Ref ID : 4942
Weibo Song, Norbert Wilbert, and Xiaozhong Hu; Redescription and neotypification of Amphileptus marinus (Kahl, 1931) nov. comb. (Ciliophora, Pleurostomatida), and reactivation of A. parafusidens Song & Wilbert, 1989. Europ.J.Protistol. 40:1-11, 2004
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Amphileptus marinus (Kahl, 1931) nov. comb. [basonym: Lionotus (Hemiophrys) marina Kahl, 1931)], a large marine benthic ciliate which has been "forgotten" for a long time was recently re-identified in samples isolated from the coastal water of the Yellow Sea, north China. The morphology of living cells and the infraciliature were investigated in the present work, which demonstrates that this is a valid and a "true" Amphileptus and hence a new combination is suggested. Based of the Chinese population and original description, a redefinition and redescription have been supplied. The diagnosis for this species is: large marine Amphileptus in vivo about 200-450 µm long with a slender lanceolate body, two macronuclear nodules, several micronuclei; two perioral kineties, 10-12 left and 20-27 right somatic kineties; several contractile vacuoles positioned near the ventral margin in the posterior half of the cell; extrusomes bar-shaped, ca. 12 µm long in vivo, densely arranged along ventral edge. Some morphologically related taxa are compared and a neotype is designated. Because of the conspicuous differences in vivo between Amphileptus parafusidens Song & Wilbert, 1989 and Lionotus punctatus Kahl, 1926, the proposal by Foissner et al. (1995) that these two organisms might be conspecific is discussed and rebutted. Morphometric data demonstrate also that A. parafusidens should be clearly separated from the seemingly misidentified form, Amphileptus punctatus sensu Foissner, 1984. Identification of three morphotypes is discussed and compared.