Taxonomy Studies On Sessile Peritrich Ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) From Coastal Waters Off Shandong, China

Sessile peritrich ciliates have been normally found in marine biotope as dominant periphytic groups. According to the system by Corliss (1979), sessile peritrich ciliates belong to the Phylum Ciliophora, Class Oligohymenophora, Order Peritrichida. Study on taxonomy of Sessile Peritrich ciliates has characteristic of difficulty because of their similar body shape and highly contractile nature. Till recently, sessile peritrich ciliates is a group still with many confusions though original report about this group can be traced back to eighteenth century. This problem is compounded by the larger number of taxa described, and a lack of information on the infraciliature and the silverline system based on silver impregnation. And few researches using modern method on sessile peritrichous ciliates have been made during the last decades especially on the marine groups. Thus, many morphologically similar species and populations need to be redefined and separated by modern method. Furthermore, there are still a number of unknown sessile peritrichs waiting for being researched especially the marine sessile peritrichs with which people are not familiar.For lacking of research on protozoa in domestic, there are still many vacancies to be filled for the studies on morphology and systematic of sessile pertrichs. This led researches of relative fields, such as protozoa, ecology, disease and molecular biology, to be difficult to carry out. Therefore, the urgent task that study morphology and taxonomy of sessile peritrichs using modern method is exactly required to undertake.Under the support of Natural Science Foundation, our lab has carried out faunistic surveys of the biodiversity of ciliated protozoa in marine waters for a couple of years. And my work constitutes part of our goal to document the diversity of sessile peritrich ciliates in Chinese coastal waters of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. Hope this survey contribute to the taxonomy of fauna of marine sessile peritrich ciliates and offer elementary data to the research of fauna of marine protozoa, in the meantime, also have applied vaule to precaution of harmful protozoa of economical animials in related waters.From 2004 to 2006, about 52 species were collected from coastal waters off Shandong during surveys. The morphology, infraciliature and silverline system of these species representing 4 families and 11 genera (Vorticella, Pseudovorticella, Paravorticella, Scyphidia, Cothurnia, Thuricola, Zoothamnium, Zoothamnopsis, Epicarchesium, Epistylis, Pseudoepistylis) were investigated based on both living and silver impregnated specimens. The results of species identification are summarized as follows:One new genus was established: Pseudoepistylis nov. gen. and its diagnosis was: Colonial Vorticellidae with continuous noncontractile stalk for each zooid and silverline system reticulate.Twenty-nine new species were described: Vorticella parapulchella nov. spec.; Vorticella chiangi nov. spec.; Vorticella petzi nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella faurefremieti Sun, Song & Xu, 2007; Pseudovorticella foissneri Sun, Song & Xu, 2007; Pseudovorticella jiangi Sun, Song & Warren, 2006; Pseudovorticella warreni nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella shii nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella alekperovi nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella grelli nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella paraelongata nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella graini nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella apogracilis nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella pattersoni nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella parannulata nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella gongi nov. spec.; Pseudovorticella hausmanni nov. spec.; Epicarchesium corlissi Sun, Song & Warren, 2006; Zoothamnopsis liui nov. spec.; Zoothamnium hartwigi nov. spec.; Zoothamnium parahentscheli nov. spec.; Zoothamnium parahiketes nov. spec.; Zoothamnium paranii nov. spec.; Zoothamnium xuianum Sun, Ji & Song, 2005; Epistylis raikowi nov. spec.; Pseudoepistylis paramphora nov. gen. nov. spec.; Paravorticella wilberti nov. spec.; Scyphidia perezuzae nov. spec.; Thuricola parakellicottiana nov. spec.Fourteen species were redescribed providing with improved diagnosis and information of infraciliature and silverline system based on the Shandong populations: Vorticella fusca Precht, 1935; Vorticella nebulifera Müller, 1773; Vorticella aequilata Kahl, 1939; Vorticella utriculus Stokes, 1885; Vorticella striata Dujardin, 1841; Pseudovorticella micata (Kahl, 1933) Warren, 1987; Pseudovorticella lima (Kahl, 1933) Jankowski, 1976; Cothurnia ceramicola Kahl, 1933; Cothurnia maritima Ehrenberg, 1838; Thuricola valvata Wright 1858; Zoothamnium hiketes Precht, 1935; Zoothamnium paraentzii Song, 1991; Zoothamnium dichotomum Wright-Kent, 1882; Zoothamnopsis mengi Song, 1997.Nine new combinations were established: Pseudovorticella cylindrica (Dons, 1915) Sun et al., 2005; Pseudovorticella banatica (Lepsi, 1947) nov. comb.; Pseudovorticella verrucosa (Dons, 1915) nov. comb.; Pseudovorticella anomala (Gourett & Roeser, 1886) nov. comb.; Pseudovorticella annulata (Gourett & Roeser, 1888) nov. comb.; Pseudovorticella jaerae (Precht, 1935) nov. comb.; Pseudovorticella fornicata (Dons, 1915) nov. comb.; Pseudovorticella plicata (Gourret & Roeser, 1886) nov. comb.; Epicarchesium variable (Küster, 1974) nov. comb.