Trichodina pediculus Ehrenberg, 1831

Chatterjee, Tapas, Dovgal, Igor & Fernandez-Leborans, Gregorio, 2021, A checklist of ciliates (Ciliophora) inhabiting on cnidarians, Zootaxa 5039 (2), pp. 151-178 : 170

Trichodina pediculus Ehrenberg, 1831

Record as epibiont on cnidarians: The species was found ( James-Clark 1866) on the Hydra oligactis Pallas, 1766 (mentioned under synonymic name Hydra fusca ) and H. viridisima Pallas, 1766 (mentioned under synonymic name Hydra viridis ). Later the species was observed on the medusa stage of Lymnocnida indica Annandale, 1912 from Tambi in the Koyna valley in the Satara district of the Mumbai ( Bombay) Presidency, India ( Annandale 1912; Martonelli et al. 2008). This species was also reported on freshwater hydromedusa (Jellyfish) Craspedacusta sowerbyi Lankester, 1880 collected from a pond near Heidelberg, Germany ( Hausmann & Hausmann 1981).

Record as epibiont on other hosts: Trichodina pediculus also found parasiting on a wide range of fish species ( Van As & Basson 1986).

Remarks: Annandale (1912) has not described or pictured the T. pediculus found on medusa. Hence, Van As & Basson (1986) believed that the Annandale’s identification was doubtful.