Euplotoides patella ( Müller, 1773 ) Borror & Hill, 1995

Tirjaková, Eva, Botlíková, Simona & Vďačný, Peter, 2015, Checklist and distribution of ciliates from the family Euplotidae Ehrenberg, 1838 (Protista: Ciliophora: Spirotrichea) in Slovakia, Central Europe, Zootaxa 3920 (2), pp. 343-365 : 354-355

Euplotoides patella ( Müller, 1773) Borror & Hill, 1995

( Figs 3 B and C; Table 3 )

This is one of the most common species of the family Euplotidae . Originally, it was described under the name Trichoda patella by Müller (1773). Later, Müller (1786) transferred it to the genus Kerona and Ehrenberg (1838) to the genus Euplotes . Dujardin (1841) combined this species with the genus Ploesconia , which was not recognized by Kahl (1932) who additionally distinguished several forms of E. patella : typicus, latus, alatus , planctonicus and variabilis. This division was criticized by Pierson (1943) who considered the latter form as a variety of E.

eurystomus . Finally, Tuffrau (1960) added information on the silverline pattern and Borror & Hill (1995) transferred patella to the genus Euplotoides .

Euplotoides patella is a cosmopolitanously distributed, mesosaprobic species dwelling, especially, in limnetic habitats such as ponds, lakes, swamps and rivers. Further, it occurs in organic debris and periphyton, and was reported also from brackish and salt waters. As yet, E. patella was reported from Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia, New Zealand and Antarctis (for review, see Foissner et al. 1991).

In Slovakia, E. patella is the most common freshwater species of the family. It was recorded at many localities: in the Bebrava river ( Hanuška 1962); in the periphyton near the shore of ponds in the village of Tomky, W Slovakia ( Matis 1973); in the Blahut kanál channel in Jurský Šúr near the town of Bratislava ( Matis 1975); in wet mosses from Slovenský raj (Slovak Paradise) ( Tirjaková & Matis 1987); in a thermal stream and ponds at a temperature of 46.5 ºC in the Bojnice Spa ( Matis & Straková-Striešková 1991); in backwaters of the Danube near Čičov ( Matis & Tirjaková 1992); in the river system of the Danube ( Tirjaková 1992a; Szentivány & Tirjaková 1994; Matis & Tirjaková 1995); in the Rojkovské rašelinisko peatbog ( Tirjaková 1992b); in the Turiec river ( Tirjaková 1993; Krno et al. 1996); in streams of the Žiarska kotlina basin ( Tirjaková 1998); in the spring area of the Hron river near the village of Revištské podzámčie ( Tirjaková 1998, 2006); in the Morava river ( Baláži & Matis 1999, 2002; Baláži 2010); in the Gidra river ( Tirjaková 2003a); in the Zbojský potok and Ulička streams ( Novikmec et al. 2007); and in the Váh river ( Tirjaková & Vďačný 2013a). We recorded E. patella at several localities in the upper Váh river (Bystrá and Lisková); in the water reservoir Nosice; in the branch system of the Danube (Istragov, Kráľovská lúka, Šamorín, and Starý les) and Hron (Revištské podzámčie) rivers; and in the Little Danube (unpubl. observ.).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Various euplotids recoded at the territory of Slovakia after protargol (A) and silver nitrate (B – F) impregnation. (A) Euplotoides aediculatus, dorsal view showing nuclear apparatus. (B, C) Euplotoides patella, ventral (B) and dorsal (C) view. (D) Euplotopsis affinis, dorsal view showing the double- eurystomus silverline pattern. (E) Euplotopsis finki, dorsal view showing the double- eurystomus silverline pattern. (F) Euplotopsis muscicola, dorsal view showing the muscicola silverline pattern. AZM—adoral zone of membranelles, CC—caudal cirri, DK—dorsal kineties, FV—frontoventral cirri, MA—macronucleus, MI—micronucleus. Scale bars: 20 µm (D – F), 30 µm (B, C), and 50 µm (A).