First record of Colpodidium caudatum (Ciliophora, Colpodidiidae) in Europe.

Juan Rodero Madrid, José Luis Olmo, Genoveva F Esteban

Protist 2023 Dec

filter terms:

ciliophora (3)

ecosystem (1)

soil (3)

spain (1)

Sizes of these terms reflect their relevance to your search.

The present study documents the discovery of the first European population of Colpodidium caudatum (Ciliophora, Colpodidiidae) in a water drain in a school playground in Manzanares (Ciudad Real, Spain). This species has been documented on every continent except Antarctica and Europe, until now. The ciliate was isolated from wet run-off soil collected from the water drain and was grown in semi-permanent cultures in the laboratory. The infraciliature of the ciliate was revealed using silver carbonate impregnation and cell measurements were taken from living and silver-impregnated specimens. A comparative analysis of published data from various populations of C. caudatum across the globe showed high intraspecific morphological variability in this species. To differentiate between species within the Colpodidium genus, a dichotomous key is presented. This investigation shows that C. caudatum is a ciliate that is found all over the world and is particularly associated with terrestrial habitats that are periodically flooded. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.

Citation

Juan Rodero Madrid, José Luis Olmo, Genoveva F Esteban. First record of Colpodidium caudatum (Ciliophora, Colpodidiidae) in Europe. Protist. 2023 Dec;174(6):125995