Blepharisma seculum Isquith et al., 1965

Jung, Atef Omar and Jae-Ho, 2021, New record of 21 ciliate species (Protozoa, Ciliophora) from South Korea, Journal of Species Research 10 (3), pp. 301-320 : 302

1. Blepharisma seculum Isquith et al., 1965 ( Fig. 1 )

Material examined. Terrestrial moss collected from Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park, Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea (36°45 ʹ 57 ʺ N, 128°4 ʹ 29 ʺ E) on 29 March 2020 .

Diagnosis. Body size 60-85 × 18-25 μm after protargol impregnation (n = 5); body fusiform with tapered anterior end and broad and rounded posterior end; macronucleus ellipsoidal with 1-4 micronuclei attached to it; cortical granules pale pink in vivo; adoral zone of membranelles occupies more than half of body length and composed of 28-30 membranelles; on average 14 somatic kineties.

Distribution. USA and Korea.

Remarks. Blepharisma seculum can be distinguished from other congeners by the pale pink color of the cortical granules. However, it is most similar to B. lateritium (Ehrenberg, 1831) Stein, 1859 in body size but differs significantly in the number of somatic ciliary rows (~14 vs. 35-46), the number of adoral membranelles (28-30 vs. 70-88), and the color of the cortical granules (pale pink vs. red). It is also similar to B. bimicronucleatum Villeneuve-Brachon, 1940 and B. hyalinum Ruinen, 1938 in body size (60-85 vs. 60-110 and 60-100 μm, respectively). Blepharisma seculum is also similar to B. bimicronucleatum in the color of cortical granules but differs mainly in having ~14 (vs. 18-23) somatic kineties and 28-30 (vs. 35-40) adoral membranelles. Also, B. seculum differs from B. hyalinum in the color of cortical granules (pale pink vs. colorless) ( Foissner, 1980; 1989; Isquith et al., 1965; Pan and Stoeck, 2017).

Voucher slides. One slide with protargol-impregnated specimens was deposited at the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBRPR20104).

Subphylum Intramacronucleata Lynn, 1996

Class Spirotrichea Bütschli, 1889

Subclass Stichotrichia Small and Lynn, 1985

Order Urostylida Jankowski, 1979

Family Urostylidae Butschli, 1889

Genus Birojimia Berger and Foissner, 1989

Figures

Fig. 1. Photomicrographs of Blepharisma seculum after protargol impregnation. A, B. Ventral (A) and dorsal (B) view showing the body shape, the adoral zone of membranelles, and the nuclear apparatus. AZM, adoral zone of membranelles; MA, macronucleus; MI, micronucleus. Scale bars=20 μm.