Litonotus alpestris Foissner, 1978

Jung, Ji Hye Kim and Jae-Ho, 2018, New record of five ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) collected in eastern Gangwon-do Province, South Korea, Journal of Species Research 7 (2), pp. 181-186 : 184-185

4. Litonotus alpestris Foissner, 1978 ( Fig. 4 )

Material examined. Brackish water (salinity 7.9‰) collected from the River Gyeongpochen , Unjeong­dong , Gangneung­si, Gangwon­do, Korea (37°47 ʹ 20 ʺ N, 128° 54 ʹ 34 ʺ E) on August 24, 2017 .

Diagnosis. Body size 25­35 × 10­20 μm in vivo; body lanceolate shape, colorless; cortical granules colorless, 0.5­0.7 μm in diameter, irregularly arranged between somatic kineties; 1 contractile vacuole subterminally locat­ ed; 1 globular macronucleus size about 7 × 6 μm; 1 micronucleus size about 1.6 × 1.7 μm; 3 right side somatic kineties; 3 left side somatic kineties; perioral kinety (PK) 1­3, PK1 on left side, PK2, 3 on right side.

Distribution. Austria, Germany, Korea.

Remarks. The Korean population of L. alpestris is slightly different from the Austrian population in the body length (25­35 μm vs. 30­50 μm), the macronucleus length (7 μm vs. 10 μm), the number of right somatic kineties (3 vs. 3 or 4) and number of left somatic kineties (3 vs. 3 or 4) ( Foissner et al., 1995). Litonotus alpestris differs from L. bonnensis Song and Wilbert, 1989 in the number of right somatic kineties (3 vs. 6) and the number of left somatic kineties (3 vs. 6) (Song and Wilbert, 1989). Litonotus alpestris differs from L. uninucleatus (Kahl, 1931) in the body length (25­35 μm vs. 30­60 μm) and the anterior and posterior ends (broadly rounded vs. sharply rounded) (Song and Wilbert, 1989). Litonotus alpestris is distinguished from L. crystallinus Vuxanovici, 1960 in the number of macronuclear nodules (1 vs. 2) ( Foissner et al., 1995).

Voucher slides. Two slides of protargol impregnated specimens were deposited at National Institute of Biological Resources, Korea (NIBRPR0000107965, NIBRPR00001 07966).

Figures

Fig. 4. Litonotus alpestris in vivo(A, B) and protargol impregnated specimens(C, D).A.An individual showing contractile vacuole and cyto­ plasmic inclusions. B. Extrusomes (arrows) and macronucleus. C. Perioral kinety 1 and somatic kineties on left side (arrow marks spherical macronucleus). D. Perioral kinety 2, 3 and somatic kineties on right side (arrowhead indicates spherical micronucleus). CV, contractile vac­ uole; MA, macronucleus; PK1­3, perioral kinety 1­3; SK, somatic kinety. Scale bars: A­D=10μm.