Rhabdostyla inclinans ( Müller, 1786 )

Chatterjee, Tapas, 2025, A checklist of peritrich ciliate epibionts (Ciliophora, Peritrichea) on aquatic oligochaetes (Annelida, Oligochaeta), Zootaxa 5725 (1), pp. 106-118 : 109

Rhabdostyla inclinans ( Müller, 1786)

= Vorticella inclinans Müller, 1786

= Scyphidia ringens Dujardin, 1841

= Gerda inclinans ( Müller, 1786) — D’udekem, 1864

= Scyphidia inclinans ( Müller, 1786) — Kent, 1882

= Rhabdostyla chaeticola Stokes, 1887

= Rhabdostyla lumbriculi Penard, 1922

= Scyphidia lumbriculi Stiller, 1971

= Opercularia inclinans Guhl 1972

Report as epibiont on oligochaetes: This ciliate has been reported to infest the epidermis and bristles of species of oligochaetes in the genera Lumbriculus , Nais , Pristina , Stylaria , Tubifex , Potamothrix and also on other oligochaetes species ( Müller 1786; D’Udekem 1864; Kent 1881; Kellicott 1884; Faure-Fremiet 1906; Korschelt 1906; Keiser 1921; Penard 1922; Stiller 1931, 1971; Kahl 1935; Nenninger 1948; Guhl 1972b; Boshko 2009; Foissner et al. 1992; Schödel 2018; Souza et al 2024).

Stokes (1887) described this species as Rhabdostyla chaeticola on Nais sp. Kellicott (1884) reported it as Scyphidia inclinans on Nais sp. and found that it is usually attached to the anterior part of the host. Penard (1922) described it as Rhabdostyla lumbriculi on Lumbriculus sp. and as R. inclinans on Nais sp. Kahl (1935) reported it on Pristina longiseta and Nais elinguis .

Remarks: This epibiont species shows varying degrees of preference for its hosts (oligochaetes). Marchesini (2015) reported this species as an epibiont on the polychaete species Aeolosoma hemprichi Ehrenberg, 1828 . Dias et al. (2007) commented that this is the only species of the genus Rhabdostyla present in the ‘indicator ciliates’ list given by Foissner & Berger (1996) and also commented that it is an indicator species of heavily polluted environments.