• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.246-255
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• 2017

Three freshwater ciliates, Lembadion lucens (Maskell, 1887) Kahl, 1931, L. bullinum ($M{\ddot{u}}ller$, 1786) Perty, 1849, and L. magnum (Stokes, 1887) Kahl, 1931, belonging to the genus Lembadion Perty, 1849 are newly reported from Korea with detailed descriptions and illustrations based on live observation and protargol impregnation. Lembadion lucens is characterized by following characteristics: $52-91{\times}33-64{\mu}m$ body size in vivo; ovoid and slightly asymmetric body shape; 27-49 somatic kineties; and 55-80% of whole pellicle covered with meridional lines with rectangular meshes in posterior portion. Lembadion bullinum is distinguishable from its congeners by its body size of $110-130{\times}60-73{\mu}m$ in vivo; ovoid body shape; oral aperture occupying about four-fifths of ventral side; 48-55 somatic ciliary rows; meridional lines with rectangular meshes except anterior portion (about 16% of body) on pellicle. Lembadion magnum is also characterized by its body size of $70-90{\times}37-50{\mu}m$ in vivo; obliquely asymmetric anterior end of body; oral aperture occupying about more than four-fifths of ventral surface, and opened longitudinally entire ventral surface; 45-61 somatic ciliary rows; meridional lines without rectangular meshes on whole pellicle of body. The present study is the first description of the genus Lembadion from Korea.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.167-178
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• 2009

Two poorly known and often confused pleurostomatid ciliates, Litonotus paracygnus Song, 1994 and L. pictus Gruber, 1884, were collected from the coastal waters of Yeonggeumjeong and Bongpo-port, Gangwondo in the East Sea and from the Iwon tide embankment near Ganwol-do, Chungcheongnam-do in the Yellow Sea, Korea. These species were described based on live observations, the protargol-impregnation and morphometrics of the species. Also provided are their diagnoses. The small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequences of these species were compared with previously known sequences of related species. The diagnostics of the two Litonotus species are as follows. L. paracygnus: 150-300 $\mu$m long in vivo, strongly contractile neck region, two ellipsoid macronuclei (Ma) and one micronucleus (Mi), 7 left (LSK) and 11-14 right somatic kineties (RSK), 2-4 contractile vacuoles (CV) located on the posterior end, extrusemes (Ex) distributed on the anterior region of the ventral margin only. L. pictus: about 200-600 $\mu$m long in vivo, extremely contractile, beautiful body color with rows of yellow to yellow-brownish cortical pigment granules, 12-21 Ma arranged in moniliform pattern, infrequently vermiform, 7-11 LSK and 18-26 RSK, several CV located on both margins, Ex distributed on the anterior region of the ventral margin only. In this study, this genus was firstly recorded in Korea.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.251-268
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• 2020

Ciliates are a speciose protozoan group and their diversity is still not well investigated in Korea. From our field surveys, 18 unrecorded ciliate species were collected from a total of nine localities in Korea. The field surveys were conducted in 2018 and 2019, and the unrecorded ciliates were found from terrestrial (moss and soil samples) and inland water (river and lagoon samples) habitats. The morphology of these ciliates was studied using the observation of living and silver impregnated (protargol) specimens. The present species belong to five classes as follows: 1) class Spirotrichea - Gonostomum kuehnelti, Quadristicha setigera, Lamtostyla decorata, L. islandica, L. longa, Anteholosticha brachysticha, Pseudobirojimia muscorum; 2) class Litostomatea - Apocoriplites lajacola, Epispathidium amphoriforme, Protospathidium muscicola, Phialinides australis, Paraenchelys wenzeli, Rimaleptus similis; 3) class Nassophorea - Drepanomonas revoluta; 4) class Colpodea - Bryometopus triquetrus; and 5) class Oligohymenophorea - Cyclidium glaucoma, Epistylis pygmaeum, Pseudovorticella vestita. The globular macronuclear nodules of P. vestita were observed for the first time in the Korean population.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.455-461
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• 2020

Marine benthic ciliates were collected from four rocky intertidal pools along the eastern and southern coasts of Korea from 2012-2013. Ciliate specimens were examined by observing living and stained cells. Four ciliate species were new to Korea based on morphological characteristics as follows. (1) Aspidisca polypoda (Dujardin, 1841): small bean-shaped (ca. 30 ㎛), eight conspicuous dorsal ridge, polystyla-arrangement of frontoventral cirri; (2) Epiclintes auricularis auricularis (Claparède & Lachmann, 1858): tripartite and auriform body (ca. 300 ㎛), 46 adoral membranelles, one or two frontal and 23 transverse cirri, 12 oblique fronto-midventral rows; 59 left and 71 right marginal cirri; (3) Pseudochilodonopsis marina Song, 1991: reniform body (ca. 50 ㎛), two obliquely positioned contractile vacuoles, seven left and five right kineties, five fragmented preoral kineties; (4) Dysteria semilunaris (Gourret and Roeser, 1888): oval-shaped (ca. 30 ㎛), two longitudinally positioned contractile vacuoles, conspicuous longitudinal grooves on both plates, four or five right kineties, one short row below frontoventral kineties.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.427-442
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• 2020

We collected indigenous Korean ciliate species from diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats in 2018 and 2019. The morphology of these ciliates was revealed based on the observations of living cells, and protargol-impregnated and/or silver carbonate-impregnated specimens. During this study, we found 16 previously unrecorded Korean ciliate species, which are as follows: 1) class Heterotrichea - Stentor introversus; 2) class Spirotrichea - Aspidisca orthopogon, Amphisiella sinica, Epiclintes auricularis rarisetus, Apokeronopsis wrighti, Pseudokeronopsis carnea, Trachelostyla pediculiformis, Strombidium apolatum, and Varistrombidium kielum; 3) class Phyllopharyngea - Chlamydodon obliquus, Dysteria aculeata, and Hartmannula angustipilosa; 4) class Litostomatea - Paraspathidium apofuscum; and 5) class Oligohymenophorea - Frontonia angusta solea, Metanophrys sinensis, and Uronemita binucleata. Here, we provide a diagnosis for each species with a brief remark. Among them, the infraciliature of the poorly known species, Stentor introversus and Dysteria aculeata, is described for the first time. Further, we revise the Korean population of Pseudokeronopsis pararubra, which was previously misidentified as Pseudokeronopsis carnea.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.220-227
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• 2011

The morphology of the two marine urostyloid ciliates, Pseudokeronopsis carnea (Cohn, 1866) and Uroleptopsis citrina Kahl, 1932, in the family Pseudokeronopsidae, collected from the Yellow Sea, and the East Sea, Korea, respectively, were studied using live observation and protargol impregnation. Additionally, the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene was sequenced. These two species are firstly recorded in Korea. The main diagnostic key is as follows. Pseudokeronopsis carnea: body outline elongate-elliptical, brown-reddish or orange-red in colour in vivo; bicorona of 16-24 frontal cirri; one buccal and two frontoterminal cirri; 7-10 transverse cirri; 5-7 dorsal kineties; two types of cortical granules (one orange-red pigment, mainly grouped around cirri and dorsal bristles, arranged in typical rubra-pattern; the other, colourless and blood-cell-shaped, and densely distributed); contractile vacuole in the posterior half of the cell on the left side, usually in posterior 1/3-2/5. Uroleptopsis citrina: body outline elongate-elliptical, lemon-yellow in colour in vivo; two types of cortical granules (one yellow pigment; the other, blood-cell-shaped, densely distributed); bicorona of 12-18 frontal cirri; 2-3 frontoterminal cirri; two midventral rows comprising 26-35 cirri (consisting of anterior paired cirri, non-paired single cirri, and posterior paired cirri); three dorsal kineties. In addition, the SSU rRNA sequences of the two species were compared with public database of these species and consequently, showed high similarity.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2004

Two epistylid ciliates collected from the sewage treatment plant in Ulsan, Korea were identified as Epistylis chrysemydis Bishop and Jahn, 1941 and E. entzii Stiller, 1935. They were examined in vivo using Die microscope. Protargol impregnation used to reveal the infraciliature and cytological details. The improved diagnoses for these species are as followings. E. chrysemydis: peristomial lip has two bulges encircling the oral region and ciliary rows wound about one and half around peristome; one contractile vacuole located ventrally; stalk ramified hollow; membrane lies 1 and 3 are longer than membranelle 2. E. entzii: peristomial lip has one bulge encircling the oral region and ciliary rows wound about 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/3 around peristome; one contractile vacuole located dorsally; stalk ramified, not hollow; membrane lies 1 and 2 are longer than membranelle 3. They are new to Korean fauna.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 2018

Two hypotrich ciliates, Australocirrus shii (Shi et al., 1997) Kumar & Foissner, 2015 and Afrokeronopsis aurea (Foissner & Stoeck, 2008) Foissner et al., 2010 isolated from freshwater habitats in Korea and were studied based on the specimens from live and after protargol impregnation. Australocirrus shii is redescribed based on morphology and 18S rRNA gene sequence, whereas Af. aurea is the first record for Korea. Main morphological features of the Korean population of Au. shii are as following: body size $100-200{\times}40-80{\mu}m$ in vivo; elongate to ellipsoidal or slightly elongate obovate, dorsoventrally flattened; transverse cirri arranged in (3+2) pattern, anterior pretransverse ventral cirrus distantly anterior of the first transverse cirrus; eight or nine dorsal kineties; and three caudal cirri. Main morphological features of the Korean population of Af. aurea are as following: body size $230-375{\times}70-145{\mu}m$ in vivo; shape elongate obovate or ellipsoidal, widest at the mid-body; undulating membranes in Australocirrus pattern with a buccal depression; and three caudal cirri. The Korean population of A. shii is similar in morphology with previous descriptions except for the presence of indentation at the posterior end in the Korean population. The Korean population of A. aurea is slightly shorter than the South African population and has slightly less marginal and mid-ventral cirri. The phylogenetic analysis of present two Korean hypotrichs and relevant species based on 18S rRNA gene sequences generated almost similar tree topologies compared with previous studies.