Ref ID : 1552
William D. Taylor; A comparative study of the sessile, filter-feeding ciliates of several small streams. Hydrobiologia 98:125-133, 1983
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Artificial substrates, consisting of strips of nylon cloth, were used to sample sessile, filter-feeding ciliates at eleven stream sites. These ciliates were common (61% of samples) and frequently abundant (mean 95 cm-2). Populations varied widely, even within stream sites, and mean abundance was not related to subjective assessments of the sites. Permanent rural streams below reservoirs, which have relatively stable flow regimes, had a peritrich fauna dominated by Vorticella campanula along with Carchesium polypinum and V. striata. Urban and intermittent streams, with less stable flow regimes, showed an increasing number of peritrichs with non-contractile stalks, particularly Epistylis plicatilis. The commonness and diversity of peritrichs was positively related to aufwuchs stability.