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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 7456

David J.S. Montagnes and Elaine Humphrey; A Description of Occurrence and Morphology of a New Species of Red-Water Forming Strombidium (Spirotrichea, Oligotrichia). J.Eukaryot.Microbiol. 45(5):502-506, 1998

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We describe a red-water ciliate, Strombidium lingulum n. sp., collected from a marine fjord in British Columbia (BC), Canada. In August, 1995, red-brown streaks were observed in the waters of Kyuquot Sound, BC. These streaks were composed of a ciliate population with an abundance in the surface of ~1.5x10E3 cells ml-1. Density was reduced to <50 cells ml-1 below the surfae. The bloom persisted for only a few hours; cells were observed for 3-4 days and were only occasionally observed in the weeks after the bloom. The red waters were speculated to be formed by a combination of downwelling events and an observed phototactic migration of the ciliate. As the ciliate was positively phototactic and pigmented, it may be mixotrophic; it was certainly heterotrophic, as it contained dinoflagellates and small ciliates in food vacuoles. Ciliates were preserved in Lugol's iodine and then both protargol stained and prepared for scanning electron microscopy.