Ref ID : 7732
Karl G. Grell and Gertrud Benwitz; [Die Ultrastruktur von Ephelota gemmipara Hertwig und E. plana Wailes (Suctoria): Ein Vergleich II. Der Schwarmer]. Protistologica XX(3):437-461, 1984
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Notes
1. The swarmers of Ephelota gemmipara and E. plana are compared with respect to their morphology and ultrastructure. 2. In both species they show a dorsoventral construction. The ventral side is deepened; in E. gemmipara as a longitudinal furrow, in E. plana as a shallow trough. A hump-like elevation wears the stalk attachment areas (scopuloid) and continues proximally, i.e. to the attachment point of the swarmer at the mother cell, as a << dam >>. 3. The ciliary field is horseshoe-like but asymmetrical: the "right" branch terminates with a higher number of kineties than the "left" branch. Kineties which extend from one branch to the other show that the topographic relationship between the basal structures and the kinetosome remains the same. 4. The swarmers of both species have a "ventral invagination" which opens on the right side of the "dam". It is surrounded by an assembly of different types of vesicles and granules. There are many more in E. plana than in E. gemmipara. 5. The swarmers show already primordia of tentacles. The morphogenesis of the axonemes begins with a "condensation center". No subpellicular kinetosomes participating in their formation have been observed. 6. Starting from the idea that the Ephelotina and Podophryina are near the basis of the Suctoria, the question is discussed, whether any acestral (plesiomorphic) features are discernable in the swarmers which may point to the phylogenetic relationship of the Suctoria with other taxa of the ciliates.