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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 943

Paolo Madoni, Tom Berman, Ora Hadas, and Ricky Pinkas; Food selection and growth of the planktonic ciliate Coleps hirtus isolated from a monomictic subtropical lake. J.Plankton Research 12(4):735-741, 1990

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A strain of Coleps hirtus (Ciliophora, Prorodontida) was isolated from the epilimnion of monomictic lake Kinneret. Growth of this ciliate was tested in response to 12 species of planktonic algae and seven species of cultured bacteria from lake isolates which were offered as food. Eight species of algae (one Cryptophyceae and seven Chlorophyceae) and four bacteria supported good to excellent growth of C. hirtus. Growth rates (u) and doubling times (DT) ranged from 0.008 to 0.029 hr-1 and from 23.9 to 90.8 hr respectively. C. hirtus was able to grow on bacteria at concentration levels as low as 2-8x10E5 cell ml-1. No correlation was observed between growth rate of C. hirtus and cell volume of the prey.