Morphology and SSU rDNA-based phylogeny of two Euplotes species from China: E. wuhanensis sp. n. and E. muscicola Kahl, 1932 (Ciliophora, Euplotida)

Abstract The living morphology, infraciliature and silverline system of two small Euplotes species, E. wuhanensis sp. n. and E. muscicola Kahl, 1932, isolated from Wuhan, central China, were investigated. Euplotes wuhanensis sp. n. is characterized by a combination of features including small size (40–50 × 25–30 μm), two conspicuously small and eight normal-sized frontoventral cirri, five transverse cirri in two groups, two marginal and two caudal cirri, seven dorsal kineties with about 12 dikinetids in the mid-dorsal row and a double- eurystomus type of dorsal silverline pattern. The Wuhan population of E. muscicola closely resembles previously described populations. The establishments of three subspecies of E. muscicola are not supported. The small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences were determined for both species. We propose that the two sequences under the name of E. muscicola (No. AJ305254 , DQ917684 deposited in GenBank) are very likely from misidentified material. Phylogenetic analyses based on these data support the validity of both E. muscicola and E. wuhanensis as distinct species.