Rigidosticha italiensis Bharti, Kumar and La Terza, 2016

Bharti, Daizy & Kumar, Santosh, 2019, Ten new records of Protozoan Ciliates (Protozoa: Ciliophora) from India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 119 (2), pp. 111-119 : 112

2. Rigidosticha italiensis Bharti, Kumar and La Terza, 2016 ( Figure 1B )

Diagnosis of the Indian population (Data based on 5 specimens): Size about 210 × 110 μm in protargol preparations; shape ellipsoidal, dorsoventrally flattened. Nuclear apparatus composed of two macronuclear nodules and one or two micronuclei attached at various positions. Cortex rigid without any specific granules. Adoral zone occupies about 40% of body length, composed of about 50 membranelles. Cirri, on average, composed of three frontal, one buccal, one parabuccal, two frontoterminal, 20 cirral pairs, and four transverse cirri. One left and one right marginal cirral rows on average composed of 34 and 37 cirri, respectively. Eight to ten dorsal kineties; three or four caudal cirri.

Material deposited: One slide with protargol-impregnated specimens have been deposited at the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India with the following accession number Pt. 4278 (7 specimens marked on the slide) .

Occurrence and ecology: Thus far, the species Rigidosticha italiensis has been recorded only from Italy ( Bharti et al. 2016). The present study reports its presence from soil sample collected from the Flamingo Bird Sanctuary (19°05’46’’N 72°56’01’’E). The soil was collected from the butterfly park which had heavy tree vegetation and grass land. It feeds on flagellates, bacteria, naked and testate amoebae and ciliates .

Figures

Figure 1. Photomicrographs of protargol impregnated specimens. A. Anteholosticha intermedia. B. Rigidosticha italiensis, arrowhead marks the paroral membrane. C. Monomicrocaryon balladyna. D. Urosoma karinae. E. Diophrys oligothrix. AZM, adoral zone of membranelles; BC, buccal cirrus; CC, caudal cirri; LM, left marginal row; MA, macronuclear nodules; MI, micronuclei; MVP, midventral cirral pairs; RM, right marginal row; TC, transverse cirri. Scale bars 40 μm (A, B, D), 20 μm (C, E).