New Record of Two Marine Ciliates (Ciliophora: Spirotrichea) in South Korea

Abstract

Two marine hypotrichous ciliates, Anteholosticha petzi and Ponturostyla enigmatica, were collected from the Yellow Sea and the Korea Strait, respectively, and described using live observation and protargol-impregnated specimens. Furthermore, the nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA gene of each was sequenced and compared to previously annotated sequences retrieved from the GenBank. Anteholosticha petzi is characterized by 3 frontal cirri (FC), 2 frontoterminal cirri (FTC), 8-12 transverse cirri (TC), 1 buccal cirrus (BC), 9-12 midventral pairs (MP), 3 bipolar dorsal kineties (DK), and 3 types of colorless cortical granules. Ponturostyla enigmatica is characterized by 8 FC, 5 ventral cirri (VC), 5-7 TC, 6-7 marginal rows (MR) on each side, 4 complete and 2-3 partial DK, and greenish cortical granules. This is the first identification and description of these 2 species, A. petzi and P. enigmatica, in South Korea.