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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 3830

Michael A. Gates; Morphometric Variation in the Hypotrich Ciliate Genus Euplotes. J.Protozool. 25(3):338-350, 1978

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A quantitative method for the analysis of cirral patterns in the genus Euplotes is developed and contrasted with alternative approaches. Inherent variations in cirral pattern, as they are reflected in frequency distributions of intercirral distances, are ascertained through subclonal analyses of Euplotes harpa samples grown under different conditions. This assessment of the extent of variation within a form having 10 frontoventral cirri provides a basis for a comparative study of other Euplotes of cirrotype 10. These results suggest that all marine cirrotype 10 forms with a single dargyrome have the same configuration of frontoventral and transverse cirri. Similarly, most marine double dargyrome forms of cirrotype 10 have this same cirral pattern, and thus constitute variations upon the same morphometric theme.