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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Heliophrya

Heliophrya Saedeleer & Tellier, 1930 (ref. ID; 2013)

Class Kinetofragminophora: Subclass Suctoria: Order Suctorida: Suborder Evaginogenina (ref. ID; 2013)

[ref. ID; 2013]
Body approximately in form of a short cylinder so that the animal is attached to the substratum by the entire basal area which tends to spread out. Characteristically there is a thick pellicle covering the animal. The tentacles are located on the upper surface, are capitate and arranged in fascicles. The macronucleus may be spherical or band-like and branched according to species. Reproduction by endogenous bud formation. Most easily confused with Cyclophrya which has few tentacles arranged in regular fascicles.
Quote; Colin R. Curds "British and other freshwater ciliated protozoa Part I Ciliophora: Kinetofragminophora" Cambridge University Press, 1982 (ref. ID; 2013)
  1. Heliophrya collini Saedeleer & Tellier, 1930 (ref. ID; 3672)
    See; Heliophrya rotunda (ref. ID; 4612), Trichophrya collini (ref. ID; 3672)
  2. Heliophrya erhardi (Reider) (ref. ID; 1618) or (Reider) Matthes (ref. ID; 3837) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 7526, 7607)
  3. Heliophrya minima (Rieder, 1936) Foissner, 1988 (ref. ID; 4612) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 1629)
    Syn; Craspedophrya rotunda f. minima Rieder 1936 (ref. ID; 4612); Heliophrya riederi Matthes, 1954 (ref. ID; 4612)
  4. Heliophrya riederi (Rieder, 1936) Matthes, 1954 (ref. ID; 794) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 191, 3689)
    See; Heliophrya minima (ref. ID; 4612)
    Syn; Craspedophrya rotunda var. minima Rieder, 1936 (ref. ID; 794)
  5. Heliophrya rotunda (Hentschel, 1916) Matthes, 1954 (ref. ID; 4612), (Hentschel) Matthes, 1954 or 1965 (ref. ID; 794, 1629, 2245) reported year? (ref. ID; 1219) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 191)
    Syn; Craspedophrya rotunda Rieder 1936 (ref. ID; 794); Heliophrya colini Saedeler & Tellier, 1929 (ref. ID; 794); Heliophrya collini Saedeler & Tellier, 1930 (ref. ID; 4612); Platophrya rotunda Gonnert, 1935 (ref. ID; 794); Trichophrya rotunda Hentschel, 1916 (ref. ID; 794, 4612) reported year? (ref. ID; 1219)
  6. Heliophrya rotunda f. irregularis (ref. ID; 794)
  7. Heliophrya rotunda f. oligofascicularis (ref. ID; 794, 4612)
  8. Heliophrya rotunda sinuosa Rieder (ref. ID; 4612)

Heliophrya collini Saedeleer & Tellier, 1930 (ref. ID; 3672)

See

Heliophrya rotunda (ref. ID; 4612), Trichophrya collini (ref. ID; 3672)

Descriptions

Stalkless, dorsoventrally flattened cell, circular or slightly polygonal in outline with fascicles of tentacles in each body angle, numerous contractile vacuoles, and a central oval-shaped macronucleus. (ref. ID; 3672)

Heliophrya erhardi (Reider) (ref. ID; 1618) or (Reider) Matthes (ref. ID; 3837) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 7526, 7607)

Descriptions

Body rounded or irregularly quadrangular; pellicular expansion up to 12 um wide; 8-12 long tentacles in each of the 4 fascicles; macronucleus dendritic; many micronuclei. (ref. ID; 1618)
Heliophrya erhardi is a disc-shaped latero-ventrally flattened organism, ~ 60 um thick and 200 um in diameter. Its flat ventral side is attached to the substrate by a 0.3-1 um thick layer of secreted material. The attachment is homologous to the stalk and disc in other suctoria. A ring surrounding the organism can be seen in the light microscope, because the attachment material is broader that the cell body. The complexity of its structures becomes evident in electron-micrographs. Bundles of slender processes emerge from the dorsal surface, which is exposed to the surrounding medium. These processes are the tentacles bearing knob-like enlargements on their distal ends. (ref. ID; 3837)
The body of Heliophrya erhardi is about 150-250 um wide and about 30-50 um thick. It is surrounded by a 15 um wide ring, the so-called attachment ring. Heliophrya is dorso-ventrally flattened and the dorsal side of the organism is exposed to the surrounding medium, while the ventral side faces the substrate. The structure of the ventral side of the organism is much simpler than that of the dorsal side. The latter is composed of: (1) A lamellar surface coat which covers the cell membrane. (2) Two alveolar membranes which are embedded in an electron dense matrix underneath the cell membrane. (3) An up to 0.8 um thick fibrillar epiplasm which is separated by a small cleft from alveolar layer. The description of the ultrastructure of the attachment. (ref. ID; 7526)
The ultrastructure study of conjugation. (ref. ID; 7607)

Examined material

The organisms originated from a clone-culture isolated in 1969 from a drainage ditch near Amsterdam, Holland. (ref. ID; 7526, 7607)

Heliophrya rotunda (Hentschel, 1916) Matthes, 1954 (ref. ID; 4612), (Hentschel) Matthes, 1954 or 1965 (ref. ID; 794, 1629, 2245) reported year? (ref. ID; 1219) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 191)

Synonym

Craspedophrya rotunda Rieder, 1936 (ref. ID; 794); Heliophrya colini Saedeler & Tellier, 1929 (ref. ID; 794); Heliophrya collini Saedeler & Tellier, 1930 (ref. ID; 4612); Platophrya rotunda Gonnert, 1935 (ref. ID; 794); Trichophrya rotunda Hentschel, 1916 (ref. ID; 794, 4612) reported year? (ref. ID; 1219)

Descriptions

Body disk-like; outline in anterior view more or less spherical, sometimes irregular; without stalk; fixed to substrate by its lower surface; basal area surrounded by pellicular border; suctorial tentacles up to 15 um long and arranged in 8-15 clusters borne the upper margin of the body; tentacles of each group arranged in 2 or 3 short rows; adult without any cilia. Thick pellicle; ectoplasm hyaline, endoplasm granulated and greyish; macronucleus reniform, located in the central region; a single micronucleus near the concave side of macronucleus; 7-22 contractile vacuoles arranged more or less in a circle; free-swimming larvae with cilia. (ref. ID; 1219)
See the description of Trichophrya rotunda. (ref. ID; 4282)

Measurements

Body 30-85 um in diameter. (ref. ID; 1219)