Urosoma karinae (Ehrenberg, 1833) Berger, 1999

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 : 113

4. Urosoma karinae (Ehrenberg, 1833) Berger, 1999 ( Figure 1D )

Diagnosis of the Indian population (Data based on 5 specimens): Size about 90 × 65 μm in protargol preparations; shape elongate ellipsoidal, dorsoventrally flattened, body ends rounded; flexible. Nuclear apparatus composed of two macronuclear nodules and two micronuclei attached to nodules at various positions. Adoral zone occupies about27%of body length,composed of 21 membranelles. Cirri, on average, composed of three frontal, one buccal, four frontoventral, three postoral, and four transverse cirri. One left and one right marginal cirral row composed of about 24 and 32 cirri respectively. Four dorsal kineties, three caudal cirri at the posterior end of dorsal kineties 1, 2, and 3.

Material deposited: Two slides including protargol-impregnated specimens have been deposited at the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India with the following accession numbers Pt. 3984/2 (5 specimens marked on the slide) and Pt. 4014/4 (3 specimens marked on the slide) .

Occurrence and ecology: This species has been recorded from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and USA. The present study reports its presence from soil samples collected from the Flamingo Bird Sanctuary (19°06’31’’N 72°57’45’’E and 19°05’46’’N 72°56’25’’E). The soil samples were collected near a waste management sites. It feeds mainly of bacteria and flagellates .

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).