Podite carrying ciliates dominate the benthic ciliate community in the kelp forest

Abstract

The ciliate fauna on the kelp Laminaria hyperborea and 5 of its epiphytes was sampled in April and August, off the north-west coast of Norway. The lamina of the kelp carried few (old lamina) or no ciliates (new lamina), while podite carrying cyrtophorids of the order Dysteriida prevailed in April on the epiphytes. The highest number of ciliates was found on Ectocarpus sp. (total ciliate number of 20 352 ± 5040 ciliates g -1 fresh weight, FW), with species of the genus Dysteria (8008 ± 1928 g -1 FW) and 1 species of the genus Hartmannula (Hartmannula angustipilosa; 8767 ± 5202 g -1 FW) being dominant. In August, the abundance of ciliates was greatly reduced on all epiphytes, although more taxa were observed. Aspidisca spp. (4829 ± 987 g -1 FW) dominated total numbers (6080 ± 1118 ciliates g -1 FW) on Ectocarpus sp. The infraciliature of 7 species from the family Dysteridae, including Agnathodysteria littoralis, Trochilia sigmoides and Dysteria monostyla, is described. The dysterids and H. angustipilosa carry a flexible podite by which they attach to the surface. The podite may be the key to success in this wave-and current-exposed environment.

Macrophytes as habitat for fauna

“…Normally, as the macrophytes are not grazed, but rather support the fauna with food after being released as POM or DOM and degraded, the macrophytes are prevented from being overgrazed by their inhabitants. Kelp and other macroalgae release a high percentage of their carbon production as DOM (Barrón et al 2003, Abdullah & Fredriksen 2004, and a proportion of this may form the mucus layer on algal surfaces that has been found to attract microorganisms (Gismervik 2004). This may be a nutrient source for, in particular, gastropods that are observed feeding on these surfaces; however, this must be further investigated.…”

Morphology and infraciliature of two new marine ciliates, Paracyrtophoron tropicum nov. gen., nov. spec. and Aegyria rostellum nov. spec. (Ciliophora, Cyrtophorida), isolated from tropical waters in southern China

“…Cyrtophorid ciliates are commonly found in aquatic biofilms or periphytons on a variety of immersed surfaces such as stones, macrophytes, and artificial substrates (Baldock et al 1983;Borror 1972;Cairns and Yongue 1968;Deroux 1970;Gismervik 2004;Gong et al 2005;Kahl 1931). As an extensive pioneer work on marine cyrtophorids, Deroux (1975Deroux ( , 1976a described ca.…”

“…Subsequently, more species were added (Dragesco and Dragesco-Kernéis 1986;Hu and Suzuki 2005;Petz et al 1995;Song and Packroff 1997;Song and Wilbert 2002) and some molecular investigations were performed regarding the phylogenetic relationships among this highly diverse group Li and Song 2006). During the last ten years' survey on ciliate fauna in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea, northern China, over 40 cyrtophorid species were identified , 2004Gong et al 2002Gong et al , 2005Shao et al 2008;Pan et al 2011). Among these, most belong to species-rich genera, for example, Dysteria Huxley, 1857, Chlamydodon Ehrenberg, 1835, andHartmannula Poche, 1913.…”

A Case Study of the Morphological and Molecular Variation within a Ciliate Genus: Taxonomic Descriptions of Three Dysteria Species (Ciliophora, Cyrtophoria), with the Establishment of a New Species

“…Dysteria Huxley, 1857, is a specialized cyrtophorian genus with a highly bilaterally compressed body and somatic cilia densely arranged in kineties that are restricted to a narrow ventral groove between two lateral plates. Other diagnostic features include the right body plate, which is arched and is slightly larger than the flattened left plate and the podite, which is located at the rear end of the sulcus and is an attachment organelle that enables an organism to attach to submerged substrata, such as rocks and plants [2,5,10,19,[23][24][25][26]. Relatively few morphological features of Dysteria (e.g., body shape, cell size, dorsal spine) can be used for species identification, which has led to many misidentifications, synonyms, and the recognition of cryptic species [5,9,10,12,[24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

“…Other diagnostic features include the right body plate, which is arched and is slightly larger than the flattened left plate and the podite, which is located at the rear end of the sulcus and is an attachment organelle that enables an organism to attach to submerged substrata, such as rocks and plants [2,5,10,19,[23][24][25][26]. Relatively few morphological features of Dysteria (e.g., body shape, cell size, dorsal spine) can be used for species identification, which has led to many misidentifications, synonyms, and the recognition of cryptic species [5,9,10,12,[24][25][26][27][28][29]. In the last two decades, the application of silver staining methods and molecular technology has enabled several historical confusions and errors to be resolved and for new species to be described [10,12,30].…”