Morphology and phylogeny of four trachelocercid ciliates (Ciliophora, Karyorelictea, Trachelocercidae) from North China Sea, with description of a new species

Tingting Ye; Wen Song; Yuqing Li; Khaled A S Al-Rasheid; Valentina Serra; Mingzhen Ma

doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126025

Morphology and phylogeny of four trachelocercid ciliates (Ciliophora, Karyorelictea, Trachelocercidae) from North China Sea, with description of a new species

Eur J Protistol. 2023 Oct:91:126025. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126025. Epub 2023 Sep 16.

Authors

Tingting Ye¹, Wen Song¹, Yuqing Li², Khaled A S Al-Rasheid³, Valentina Serra⁴, Mingzhen Ma⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Marine Protozoan Biodiversity & Evolution, Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
² Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
³ Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biological, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
⁵ Laboratory of Marine Protozoan Biodiversity & Evolution, Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China; Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: mamingzhen61@163.com.

PMID: 37890439
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126025

Abstract

Trachelocercids are common ciliates in marine sandy intertidal zones, however, only few species have been described using modern taxonomic techniques, with several earlier descriptions still lacking primary data, such as a detailed description of the oral ciliature. For this reason, systematics of the family Trachelocercidae Kent, 1881 resulted in paraphyletic genera and needs a critical revision. As an attempt to fill the gap of knowledge for this group, this study presents one new species description, Tracheloraphis apodiscolor n. sp., along with redescriptions of three lesser-known trachelocercid species, Trachelocerca bodiani (Dragesco, 1963) Dragesco, 2002, Trachelocerca ditis (Wright, 1982) Foissner & Dragesco, 1996 and Prototrachelocerca fasciolata (Sauerbrey, 1928) Foissner, 1996, collected from coastal marine habitats at Qingdao (China), using live and protargol-stained specimens. Tracheloraphis apodiscolor n. sp. can be distinguished from its closest related congener, T. discolor, by a shorter body length and fewer somatic kineties. Molecular data of T. apodiscolor n. sp. and T. bodiani were provided for the first time. Additionally, based on the Qingdao populations, we provide improved diagnoses for T. ditis and P. fasciolata. Phylogenetic analyses were performed and discussed, as there is strong support for paraphyly of the genera Tracheloraphis and Trachelocerca. In general, more integrative studies based on taxonomy, ultrastructure as well as molecular data are needed to properly shed light on the systematics of trachelocercids.

Keywords: Evolution; Infraciliature; Phylogeny; SSU rDNA; Taxonomy; Trachelocercidae.

MeSH terms

China
Ciliophora* / genetics
Ecosystem
Phylogeny