Steinia sphagnicola Foissner, 1989

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 : 306-308

8. Steinia sphagnicola Foissner, 1989 ( Fig. 8 )

Material examined. Saline water sample (1.1‰) collected from Soonpo Wetlands, Gangneung, Korea (37° 49 ʹ 13.1 ʺ N, 128°53 ʹ 18.1 ʺ E) on 17 October 2019 .

Diagnosis. Body size 100-120 × 40-55 μm after protargol impregnation (n = 7); body ellipsoidal in vivo, obovate after impregnation; 2 macronuclear nodules and 2 micronuclei each attaching to a macronucleus; adoral zone of membranelles covered about 50% of cell length with 33-37 membranelles; undulating membranes in Steinia pattern; 1 right and 1 left marginal row with 19-21 and 17-20 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. Austria, France, Germany, Poland, and Korea.

Remarks. The Korean population of S. sphagnicola is very similar to the type population described by Foissner (1989) in all aspects, but it is slightly smaller (100- 120 × 40-55 μm vs. 130-160 × 50-80 μm). Steinia sphagnicola differs from other congeners in the arrangement of the transverse cirri (i.e., two separate groups vs. one group) ( Voss and Foissner, 1996; Berger, 1999).

Voucher slides. Two slides with protargol-impregnated specimens were deposited at the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBRPR20116, NNIBRPR20117).

Figures

Fig. 8. Photomicrographs of Steinia sphagnicola from living specimens (A, B) and after protargol impregnation (C, D). A, B. Ventral (A) and dorsal (B) view showing body outline. C. Ventral ciliature. D. Dorsal kineties. 1-6, dorsal kineties; AZM, adoral zone of membranelles; CC, caudal cirri; LMR, left marginal row; MA, macronucleus; MI, micronucleus; PTC, pretransverse cirri; RMR, right marginal row; TC, transverse cirri. Scale bars=50μm.