Tetmemena bifaria minima Kumar et al., 2016

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 : 308

10. Tetmemena bifaria minima Kumar et al., 2016

( Fig. 10 )

Material examined. Terrestrial soil sample collected from Gyeongpo Gasiyeon Wetlands, Gangneung, Korea (37°47 ʹ 25.09 ʺ N, 128°53 ʹ 52.23 ʺ E) on 25 September 2019 .

Diagnosis. Body size 70-80 × 30-40 μm after protargol impregnation (n = 9); body ellipsoidal to broadly ellipsoid, 2 macronuclear nodules and 2 micronuclei each attaching to a macronucleus; adoral zone of membranelles covered about 30% of cell length with 23-27 membranelles; undulating membranes in Stylonychia pattern; 1 right and 1 left marginal rows with 12-15 and 9-11 cirri, respectively; 3 frontal, 1 buccal, 4 ventral, 3 postoral, 2 pretransverse, and 5 transverse cirri arranged in two groups. 6 dorsal kineties and 3 caudal cirri.

Distribution. Argentina, Italy, and Korea

Remarks. The Korean population of T. bifaria minima agrees very well with the type population from Italy in all features ( Kumar et al., 2016), but differs slightly from the Argentinian population by the smaller body length (75 vs. 100 μm) ( Küppers et al., 2009). It also differs from T. bifaria bifaria (Stokes, 1887) Berger, 2001 by the lower numbers of the adoral membranelles (25 vs. 37) and the right (14 vs. 19 on average) and left (10 vs. 19 on average) marginal cirri (Wirnsberger et al., 1985). Voucher slides. Two slides with protargol-impregnated specimens were deposited at the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBRPR20120, NNIBRPR20121).

Figures

Fig. 10. Photomicrographs of Tetmemena bifaria minima from life(A, B) and after protargol impregnation (C).A, B. Ventral views showing the body shape and the transverse and caudal cirri projecting from posterior body end. C. Ventral view showing the ventral ciliature. AZM, adoral zone of membranelles; BC, buccal cirrus; CC, caudal cirri; FC, frontal cirri; LMR, left marginal row; MA, macronucleus; MI, micronucleus; PTC, pretransverse cirri; RMR, right marginal row; TC, transverse cirri. Scale bars=30μm.