Description of five new species of hysterocinetian ciliates (Ciliophora, Hysterocinetidae), endocommensal in a terrestrial oligochaete of the genus Alma from Cameroon

Paul Alain Nana (1) , Zéphyrin Fokam (1) , Guy Martial Ntoungwa Ebague (2) , Pierre Ngassam (2) , Geneviève Bricheux (3) , Philippe Bouchard (3) , Télesphore Sime-Ngando (3)

1 Laboratoire de Biologie Générale
2 Département de Biochimie [Yaoundé I]
3 LMGE - Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement

Studies on five new species of hysterocinetian ciliates, endocommensal within a terrestrial oligochaete from the genus Alma (Cameroon), reveal the existence of three distinct types of cytoskeletal topography within their adhesive apparatus. In the first topographical type, four superimposed antagonistic strata of skeletal fibres that correspond to the arrangement observed in the genus Ptychostomum, Stein 1860 are found. The second topographical type is characterized by the existence of an unorganized field of fibrillar structures forming a single dense mass in the central part of the sucker. For this, a new genus is created: Ptychostomoides, Nana, Fokam, Ntoungwa et al. n. g. The third type present in the genus Proptychostomoides, Nana, Fokam, Ntoungwa et al. n. g. differs from the latter by the existence of a bare patch within the central region of the adhesive apparatus. This new evidence of morphological diversification within the Hysterocinetidae supports a new approach to the systematics of this group.

Mots clés: Proptychostomoides n. g; Ptychostomoides n. g; Alma; ciliates; Hysterocinetidae; phylogeny; Proptychostomoides n. g.; Ptychostomoides n. g.; Ptychostomum

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Paul Alain Nana, Zéphyrin Fokam, Guy Martial Ntoungwa Ebague, Pierre Ngassam, Geneviève Bricheux, et al.. Description of five new species of hysterocinetian ciliates (Ciliophora, Hysterocinetidae), endocommensal in a terrestrial oligochaete of the genus Alma from Cameroon. Protistology, 2012, 7 (2), pp.97-107. ⟨hal-00917775⟩