ID??? (Prorodon)

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:41 pm

I found this ciliate and I would like to know the ID.

Rogelio

Bruce Taylor · Post by **Bruce Taylor** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:19 pm

Looks like Prorodon...and utterly perfect, as usual.

Marek Mis · Post by **Marek Mis** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:13 pm

Rogelio,

Beautiful as always !
I especially like the third one.

Marek

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:14 am

Marek, thank you for your comments.

Bruce, thank you very much for enlighten me to Prorodon. I did a search of Prorodon and I found that it could be Holophrya based on the info by Bernhard here.

Rogelio

Bruce Taylor · Post by **Bruce Taylor** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:38 am

Aha. Bernhard is citing Foissner's "User-friendly guide" (a great resource by a giant in the field). I was puzzled by Foissner's use of the macronucleus to differentiate Holophrya from Prorodon, since most sources (micro*scope, NIES, etc.) list many Prorodon species with oval macronuclei.

Here, for instance is Prorodon, as it appears in DJ Patterson's book (and reproduced in EOL):

The reason seems to be that Foissner himself has revised the genus Prorodon, incorporating many members of the genus into Holophrya. I don't have access to Foissner's 1994 Ciliate Atlas, but here's Denis Lynn on the subject:

Foissner, Berger, and Kohmann (1994)
discovered that for years ciliates assigned to the
genus Prorodon ought properly to have been
assigned to the genus Holophrya based on the
features of its type species, Holophrya ovum
Ehrenberg, 1831, which exhibits brosse kineties .
Furthermore, they concluded that Prorodon ought
to include only species with a slit-like oral region
and a brosse that extends the length of the body
(Foissner et al., 1994), based on its type species,
Prorodon niveus Ehrenberg, 1833. Foissner et al.
(1994) established a new genus Apsiktrata based
on Urotricha gracilis , a Urotricha species without
a brosse , and a new family Apsiktratidae , to
include those prostomes without a brosse . We have
assumed throughout this chapter that ciliates identified
as Prorodon , Pseudoprorodon , and Holophrya
prior to Foissner et al. actually ought to have been
identified as Holophrya , Prorodon , and Apsiktrata ,
respectively. Throughout the chapter, we have used
the new names but followed these in parentheses
by the genus name used in the literature cited.

So, the systematics of the prostomes are in flux, and sources that keep these oval-nucleated guys in the genus Prorodon are either being cautious, or are simply "behind the times." And I have some more reading to do.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:14 am

Awesome images Rogelio. I can't wait till you find a Coleps.

arturoag75 · Post by **arturoag75** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:52 am

i agree whit Mitch ..these are stunning shots as ever!
it 's probably Prorodon teres.
Arturo

Bruce Taylor · Post by **Bruce Taylor** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:12 am

arturoag75 wrote:it 's probably Prorodon teres.

A synonym of Holophrya teres.

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:48 am

Mitch and Arturo, thank you for your comments.

Bruce, thank you very much for the detailed additional information.

Rogelio