a tintinnid ciliate

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Franz Neidl
Posts: 747
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:59 am
Location: Italy

a tintinnid ciliate

Post by Franz Neidl »

Very characteristic for the plankton of the Mediterranen sea are the tintinnid ciliates (about 70 species).
The lorica ("house") of this ciliate was about 260 µm long.
I dont know the species. Somebody can help me?

Franz


Image

René
Posts: 467
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:22 am

Post by René »

Very nice Franz! Can you show the surface structure of the lorica?

It's a Favella, wouldn't dare to go much further.

Best wishes, Rene.

BJ
Posts: 355
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:53 am
Location: England

Post by BJ »

Fantastic !

Brian

Franz Neidl
Posts: 747
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:59 am
Location: Italy

Post by Franz Neidl »

for René and Brian: thank you very much!
for René: I send you a picture from the surface structure of the lorica.

Franz

Image

René
Posts: 467
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:22 am

Post by René »

Thanks Franz, did you find differences in surface structure around the lorica opening (rings and so on?)

Rene.

Franz Neidl
Posts: 747
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:59 am
Location: Italy

Post by Franz Neidl »

for René,
I did not discover any differences around the lorica opening (see picture).
Yesterday I read that there are three different forms of the lorica in one lifecycle of Favella ehrenbergii: the Favella form, the Coxliella form and the Decipiens form (cfr. Wolfgang Petz and Andreas Leitner, in: R. Hofrichter, Das Mittelmeer II/1, p. 118).
Is it possible that "my" Favella has the Decipiens form?

Franz



Image

BJ
Posts: 355
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:53 am
Location: England

Post by BJ »

Hi Franz,

Do you know the plankton identification leaflets ("Fiches d’Identification du Zooplancton") produced by ICES ?

These can be downloaded as pdfs from

http://www.ices.dk/products/idleaflets.asp

Sheets 117-127 cover the tininnids, with sheet 121 for Favella spp.

Just looking at the pictures, I would go for Favella markusovszkyi (what a great name!) - but that is not very scientific of me !

It would appear to me that your specimen has no "rings"/spirals near the mouth of the lorica and this may be key to its identification.

Boa sorte
Brian

René
Posts: 467
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:22 am

Post by René »

Hello Franz,
Brian essentially used the same literature as I did, F.markusovszkyi is certainly very close. It seems your form has a bigger lorica opening then mentioned in the text. It is reported for the North Sea in any case.

I have no access to Hofrichter, but other sources (http://books.google.nl/books?id=5n9Gc0k ... q=&f=false) show the coxliella and decipiens form with ring like structures in the lorica.

Again, nice work, hope to see more!

René

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