Ref ID : 7926
L.A. Obolkina; New Representatives of the Colepidae (Prostomatida, Ciliophora) from Lake Baikal. Hydrobiological Journal 33(1-3):271-288, 1997 (Originally published in Zoologicheskiy zhurnal 74(9):3-19, 1995)
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The Colepidae is the largest family of ciliates in the endemic complex of the Lake Baikal psammon. Preliminary data indicate that at least 15 colepid species of various type occur in the sand of the open littoral zone, which show clearly pronounced signs of adaptation to life in the interstitial spaces of the sand: body flattened or elongate, including formation of a tail, and large size. New species from four new genera are described: Baikalocoleps quadratus gen. n., sp. n.; Alexandria arcuata gen. n., sp. n.; A. affinis sp. n.; A. heterolobata sp. n.; Tiarinella gracilis gen., sp. n.; Macrocoleps caudatus gen. n.; M. aculeatus sp. n. Based on similarity of the generic composition and morphology of the psammophilous ciliates of Lake Baikal and Tanganyika I postulate that the more primitive elements of the limnopsammon could have formed in the ancient lakes because of their age. More phylongenetically recent specialized forms that arose from common widely distributed species compose the core of such a freshwater psammophilous community.