Brachonella pulchra ( Kahl, 1927 ), 2018

Jung, Atef Omar and Jae-Ho, 2022, New record of five anaerobic ciliate species from South Korea, Journal of Species Research 11 (2), pp. 108-116 : 110-111

2. Brachonella pulchra ( Kahl, 1927)

Bourland et al., 2018 ( Fig. 2 )

Material examined. Freshwater sample collected from Bunhwangji , Nakdong-myeon, Sangju-si, Gyeongsang- buk-do, Republic of Korea (36°23′50.4″N, 128°15′47.7″E) on 26 April 2021 .

Diagnosis. Size in vivo 80-110 × 50-70 μm and 60-90 × 40-55 μm after protargol impregnation (n = 7); body shape broadly ellipsoidal to obovate, distinctly twisted anteriorly and slightly flattened dorsoventrally; preoral dome huge, ventral side distinctly convex; cytoplasmic granules aggregate at anterior end of ventral side of preoral dome; one globular macronucleus and one micronucleus in anterior half of body; cortex covered with minute cortical granules; 30-40 ciliary rows, caudal cilia slightly elongated; perizonal stripe consists of 5 rows not arranged in false kineties, kineties 1-3 closely spaced, separated from rows 4 and 5 by a gap; adoral zone comprises ~40 polykinetids on average, only slightly spirals onto dorsal side anteriorly.

World distribution. Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, and South Korea ( Kahl, 1927; Jankowski, 1964b; Bourland et al., 2018a).

Remarks. The Korean population of Brachonella pulchra agrees to the most recent description of Bourland et al. (2018a) in all features. Brachonella pulchra could be easily separated from B. contorta (see above). Also, it differs from B. comma by the body shape (broadly ellipsoidal vs. elongate, comma-shaped) and the number of somatic kineties (30-40 vs. 20-25) ( Bourland et al., 2018a; 2022).

Voucher slide. One slide with protargol-impregnated specimens was deposited at the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBRPR0000111062).

Figures

Fig. 2. Brachonella pulchra in life (A-C) and after protargol impregnation (D-F). A-C. Ventral (A, B) and dorsal (C) view showing the body shape, the adoral zone of polykinetids, the cortical granules, and the large preoral dome. D-F. Ventral (D, E) and dorsal (F) view showing the somatic and oral ciliature, the perizonal ciliary stripe, and the nuclear apparatus.AZP, adoral zone of polykinetids; CG, cortical granules; MA, macronucleus; MI, micronucleus; PM, paroral membrane; PS, perizonal ciliary stripe. Scale bars 20μm.