Morphology and molecular phylogeny of a new brackish pleurostomatid ciliate, Loxophyllum paludosum sp. n. (Ciliophora, Litostomatea, Haptoria), from a mangrove wetland in China

Lei Wu; Jiqiu Li; Alan Warren; Xiaofeng Lin

doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2021.125802

Morphology and molecular phylogeny of a new brackish pleurostomatid ciliate, Loxophyllum paludosum sp. n. (Ciliophora, Litostomatea, Haptoria), from a mangrove wetland in China

Eur J Protistol. 2021 Aug:80:125802. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2021.125802. Epub 2021 May 8.

Authors

Lei Wu¹, Jiqiu Li², Alan Warren³, Xiaofeng Lin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Healthy and Safe Aquaculture, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong, China.
² Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Healthy and Safe Aquaculture, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong, China; The Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies, Key Laboratory of the Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China.
³ Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
⁴ Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Healthy and Safe Aquaculture, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: linxf@xmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34090088
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2021.125802

Abstract

A new ciliate species of the genus Loxophyllum Dujardin, 1841, Loxophyllum paludosum sp. n., is described from a mangrove wetland near Daya Bay in Guangdong Province, southern China, based on morphological and molecular analyses. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) 12-14 right kineties and 4-6 left kineties; (2) two macronuclear nodules and one micronucleus; (3) a single contractile vacuole located terminally; (4) extrusomes bar-shaped, evenly spaced along entire ventral margin, and clustered to form 5-7 warts along dorsal margin; and (5) presence of three ridges on the left side of cell. The new species is divergent from its congeners from 0.4% to 6.7% (5-104 nucleotide sites) based on the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequence data. The validity of the new species is also supported by molecular phylogenetic trees inferred from SSU rRNA gene sequences.

Keywords: Biodiversity; New species; SSU rDNA; South China Sea; Taxonomy.

MeSH terms

China
Ciliophora / classification*
Ciliophora / cytology
Ciliophora / genetics
DNA, Protozoan / genetics
DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
Phylogeny*
Species Specificity
Wetlands

Substances

DNA, Protozoan
DNA, Ribosomal