New Records of Two Ciliated Protists from India

Abstract

The diversity of free-living ciliated protists isolated from the soil samples collected from the Western Ghats, Kerala, were studied based on standard methods. Two ciliates were identified as new records to the Indian fauna, namely Lembadion lucens (Maskell, 1887) Kahl, 1931 and Anteholosticha monilata (Kahl, 1928) Berger, 2003. The present study provides a brief description of both species based on live observation and stained preparations along with photomicrographs.