Polymorphism, gigantism, and cannibalism, one stylonychid ciliate (Ciliophora, Hypotricha) to rule them all.

ABSTRACT: The morphology, ontogenesis, and molecular phylogeny of the polymorphic and cannibalistic giant forming Tetmemena polymorpha n. sp., found in a brackish water sample in South Korea, were investigated. The present species has long been misidentified as "Oxytricha bifaria." The new investigation shows that the species produces three morphologically different morphs. The small morph is bacterivorous and characterized by its small body size and slim body and it is found only in the stationary and decline phases of the culture. The large morph has a wide body, larger oral apparatus, and feeds on small eukaryotes such as yeast cells and small ciliates. It divides very quickly and produces the other two morphs and found in the exponential phase of the cultures. The giant morph is ch

SUBMITTER: Omar A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10229871 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature