Anteholosticha monilata (Kahl, 1928) Berger, 2003

Bharti, Daizy & Kumar, Santosh, 2021, New Records of Two Ciliated Protists from India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 121 (3), pp. 333-336 : 334-335

2. Anteholosticha monilata (Kahl, 1928) Berger, 2003 ( Figure 2 A-H)

Diagnosis of the Indian population (Data based on 4 specimens): Size about 160 × 40 μm in protargol preparations; shape elliptical with body ends rounded, dorsoventrally flattened. Nuclear apparatus composed of on average seven macronuclear nodules, about 10 × 7 μm in size mostly arranged in a row slightly left of mid-body and 2-4 micronuclei attached or near to macronuclear nodules. Cortex flexible. Contractile vacuole in mid-body near left cell margin. Buccal cavity wide. Adoral zone occupies about 32% of body length, composed of 47 membranelles on average. Cirri, on average, composed of three frontal, one buccal, two frontoterminal, 19 midventral cirral pairs, two pretransverse ventral cirri, eight transverse cirri, one left and one right marginal cirral rows composed of 46 and 44 cirri, respectively. Caudal cirri absent. Six dorsal kinety rows.

Material deposited: A slide containing protargolimpregnated specimens have been deposited at the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India with the accession number Pt. 4298 (4 specimens marked on the slide) .

Occurrence and ecology: The species Anteholosticha monilata is rather common in freshwater though rare in terrestrial habitats. It has been recorded from Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Moldavia, Norway, Spain, Belgium, Cameroon, USA (for further details, refer Berger (2006). The present study reports its presence from soil samples collected from the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary , Sangam Range , Palakkad district, Western Ghats (10°26’29.2’’N 76°46’29.3’’E), India. It feeds on flagellates, bacteria, amoeba, diatoms, and small ciliates.

Figures

Figure 2. Photomicrographs of live (A-D) and protargol impregnated (E-H) specimens of Anteholosticha monilata Indian population. A-D. Specimens from live, showing body shape, position of contractile vacuole, nuclear apparatus arranged in a row, and ciliature. Inset in 9B) shows the lateral view of a specimen. E-G. Specimens showing ciliature on the ventral surface. Arrowhead in (F) points to the buccal cirrus. H. A specimen, showing ciliature on the dorsal surface. AZM, adoral zone of membranelles; CV, contractile vacuole; DK, dorsal kineties; LM, left marginal row; MA, macronuclear nodules; MI, micronuclei; MVP, mid-ventral cirral pairs; RM, right marginal row; TC, transverse cirri. Scale bars 50 μm.