Copterus tyloloricatus (Ciliophora, Suctorea), a new suctorian genus and species

Igor Dovgal; Atsushi Yamaguchi; Daiki Kojima; Yoshinari Endo

doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126036

Copterus tyloloricatus (Ciliophora, Suctorea), a new suctorian genus and species

Eur J Protistol. 2023 Oct:91:126036. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126036. Epub 2023 Nov 20.

Authors

Igor Dovgal¹, Atsushi Yamaguchi², Daiki Kojima², Yoshinari Endo³

Affiliations

¹ A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia. Electronic address: dovgal-1954@mail.ru.
² Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, Japan.
³ 3-28-1, Katsura, Izumi-ku, Sendai, Japan.

PMID: 38016242
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126036

Abstract

We present the description of the new suctorian genus Copterus gen. n. with type species Copterus tyloloricatus sp. n. from the family Acinetidae, inhabiting the prosomes and urosomes of calanoid copepods from the northern North Pacific Ocean. The new taxon is characterized by (i) an ellipsoidal to triangular, asymmetric, dorsoventrally flattened cell body, which lies horizontally on the lorica surface; (ii) an unflattened lorica; and (iii) the presence of three to five radially arranged bundles of tentacles positioned at the edge of the body or on actinophores.

Keywords: Calanoid host; Copterus gen. n.; Copterus tyloloricatus sp. n.; Epibiosis; Suctorian ciliates.

MeSH terms

Ciliophora*
Kinetofragminophorea*
Pacific Ocean