Ciliospina
Ciliospina Leegaard, 1915 (ref. ID; 3389)
[ref. ID; 3389]
Middle size. Two characteristic protuberances extend from both side of the body. Described from the specimen found in the Atlantic Ocean. (ref. ID; 3389)
- Ciliospina norvegica Leegaard, 1915 (ref. ID; 3389, 4906)
Descriptions
Two characteristic protuberances extend from both sides of the body. Inside these a long rod extends from one side to the other. Kahl (1932) suggested that this rod was a food material, such as a diatom, which had been taken. The circlet of apical membranelles is closed. The macronucleus is oval. Rarely found in the Atlantic Ocean. (ref. ID; 3389)
In the brackish water basins, flagellates with ingested diatom were noticed. Lugol fixed cells form a bulge (18-39x16-24 um) on the diatom, whose ends are only covered by a very thin layer of cytoplasm. In the bulge a ring-like structure is found. The ingested diatoms measured 34-102x3-5 um. Despite such specimens lack membranelles, they resemble Ciliospina norvegica Leegaard, 1915, a ciliate with a bar perpendicular to the cell's main axis. Kahl (1932) considered C. norvegica to be a "seltsames, deutlich oligotriches Infusor" deformed by diatoms. Deformed oligotrichs were also found in the polder basins. In these cases, however, the ingested pennate diatoms were parallel to the cell's main axis. Therefore, Ciliospina norvegica could either be a flagellate, whose nucleus and flagellum give the impression a zone of membranelles, or -less likely- an aloricate oligotrich ciliate, both ingesting pennate diatoms. In both cases, the genus Ciliospina and its single species C. norvegica are superfluous. Thus, they are regarded as nomina dubia. (ref. ID; 4906)
Measurements
Size, 47-67 um. (ref. ID; 3389)