<i>Kentrophyllum bispinum</i> sp. n.; living individual (A-D, E, F, I) and cells stained with protargol (G, H, J, K).

<p><b>A.</b> Right lateral view of representative specimen. <b>B.</b> Distribution of extrusomes and developed nematodesmata (arrowhead). <b>C, D.</b> Ciliary patterns of right (C) and left (D) side; arrowheads, perioral kinety 2. <b>E, I.</b> Right lateral view. Arrows, contractile vacuoles; arrowheads, double-spines. <b>F.</b> Right lateral view, showing the extrusomes (arrowheads). <b>G.</b> Anterior part of right side, showing the anterior suture (arrowheads). <b>H.</b> Anterior part of right side; arrows indicate the perioral kinety 1. <b>J.</b> Posterior part of left side showing the posterior suture (arrowheads). <b>K.</b> Distribution of extrusomes; arrowheads, oral slit. Ma, macronuclear nodules; DB, dorsal brush; PK1, perioral kinety 1; PK2, perioral kinety 2. Scale bars, 100 μm.</p

<i>Kentrophyllum strumosum</i> sp. n.; living individual (A-D, E-G, I, J) and cells stained with protargol (H, K, L).

<p><b>A.</b> Right lateral view of representative specimen. <b>B.</b> Left lateral view, showing distribution of extrusomes and warts (arrowheads). <b>C, D.</b> Ciliary patterns of right (C) and left (D) side; arrows, perioral kinety 2. <b>E.</b> Right lateral view, showing erose posterior (double arrowheads) and warts (arrowheads). <b>F, I.</b> Anterior part of left side showing extrusomes in the warts and suture (arrowhead). <b>G.</b> Posterior part of left side showing grooves (arrowheads) and erose posterior (double arrowheads). <b>H.</b> Anterior part of right side indicating suture (arrows). <b>J.</b> Lateral side view, showing the arched left side (arrowhead). <b>K.</b> Posterior part of left side, showing suture (arrowheads). <b>L.</b> Right lateral view, showing perioral kinety 2 (arrowheads). Ma, macronuclear nodules. DB, dorsal brush; PK1, perioral kinety 1; PK2, perioral kinety 2. Scale bars, 100 μm.</p

<i>Kentrophyllum verrucosum</i>; living individuals (A–H, L–N) and cells stained with protargol (I-K).

<p><b>A.</b> Right lateral view of representative specimen. <b>B.</b> Left lateral view of representative specimen. <b>C, D.</b> Right lateral views of contracted specimens; arrowheads, contractile vacuoles; arrows, extrusomes. <b>E, K.</b> Margin of cell under higher magnification; arrowheads, spines. <b>F.</b> Posterior part of left side, showing grooves (arrowheads). <b>G.</b> Right lateral view showing warts (arrowheads). <b>H.</b> Anterior part of left side showing peribuccal papillae (arrowheads). <b>I.</b> Middle part of right side showing somatic kineties (arrowheads). <b>J.</b> Right lateral view. Arrows, perioral kinety 2; arrowheads, warts. <b>L.</b> Distribution (arrowhead) and development (arrow) of nematodesmata. <b>M, N.</b> Ciliary patterns of right (M) and left (N) sides; arrows, perioral kinety 1. Ma, macronuclear nodules. DB, dorsal brush; PK1, perioral kinety 1; PK2, perioral kinety 2. Scale bars, 100 μm.</p

<i>Kentrophyllum qingdaoense</i> sp. n.; photomicrographs of SEM (A–H).

<p><b>A, B.</b> Right lateral views. Arrowheads, suture; arrows, single spine; double-headed arrows, pores of contractile vacuoles. <b>C, E.</b> Left lateral views. Arrowheads, macronuclear nodules. <b>D, F.</b> Right lateral views, indicating the pores of contractile vacuoles (arrows). <b>G.</b> Posterior part of right side, showing single spines (arrows). <b>H.</b> Body margin (arrowheads). Scale bars, 50 μm.</p

Morphological comparison of all known species of <i>Kentrophyllum</i>.

<p>^a Length of body in living cells;</p><p>^b Data not given;</p><p>^c Number of macronuclei;</p><p>^d Data based on illustration;</p><p>^e Number of right somatic kineties/number of left somatic kineties;</p><p>^f Number of contractile vacuoles;</p><p>^g Position of contractile vacuoles;</p><p>^h ventral;</p><p>ⁱ dorsal;</p><p>^j absent;</p><p>^k present;</p><p>^l Peribuccal papillae;</p><p>—, N/A</p><p>Morphological comparison of all known species of <i>Kentrophyllum</i>.</p

Phylogenetic tree constructed from 39 SSU rDNA sequences of litostomatean ciliates.

<p>Numbers at nodes indicate bootstrap values for maximum likelihood (ML), posterior probabilities from Bayesian analysis (BI) and bootstrap values from maximum parsimony (MP), respectively. GenBank accession numbers are given after names of species. Newly sequenced species are marked with a red. Scale bar corresponds to five substitutions per 100 nucleotide positions. * Designated as <i>Kentrophyllum strumosum</i> sp. n. in present work. ** Designated as <i>Kentrophyllum shenzhenense</i> (Pan et al., 2010) comb. n. in present work.</p

<i>Antestrombidium agathae</i> gen. nov., sp. nov. from living observations (A-D) and after staining with protargol (E-I).

<p>A, B. Ventral and dorsal views of a typical specimen, arrows mark the extrusomes; C. Undischarged extrusomes; D. Swimming trace; E. Pattern of somatic ciliature; F, G. Ventral (F) and dorsal (G) views of the same specimen showing the ciliary pattern and macronucleus; H, I. Right (H) and left (G) lateral views showing the ciliary pattern. Legend: AM-anterior membranelles; CK-circular kinety; E-endoral membrane; GK-girdle kinety; Ma-macronucleus; VK-ventral kinety; VM-ventral membranelles. Scale bars: A, B, E-I. 30 μm; C. 3 μm.</p

Location and habitats of sampling sites.

<p>Location and habitats of sampling sites.</p

Morphometric data of <i>Sinistrostrombidium cupiformum</i> gen. nov., sp. nov. (first row) and <i>Antestrombidium agathae</i> gen. nov., sp. nov. (second row).

<p>All data based on specimens stained with protargol; Max-maximum value observed; Mean-arithmetic mean; Min-minimum value observed; n-sample size; SD-standard deviation.—: data unavailable.</p><p>Morphometric data of <i>Sinistrostrombidium cupiformum</i> gen. nov., sp. nov. (first row) and <i>Antestrombidium agathae</i> gen. nov., sp. nov. (second row).</p

Photomicrographs of <i>Sinistrostrombidium cupiformum</i> gen. nov., sp. nov. from life (A-M) and after staining with protargol (N-Q).

<p>A. Ventral view of a typical individual; B-D. Variation in shape of the body, note the apical protrusion (arrow); E. Ventral view of anterior part of cell showing the VM (arrow); F-H. Dorsal (F), ventral (G) and lateral (H) views showing the distribution of extrusomes (arrowheads); I. Ventral view of posterior part of cell showing the hemitheca (arrow); J. Outer ends of extrusomes; K. Detail of hemitheca with polygonal cortical platelets; L. Undischarged extrusomes; M. Discharged extrusomes; N. Ventral view showing the somatic kineties and AZM; O. Ventral view of anterior part of cell showing the AM and VM; P. Ventral view, arrowhead marks the anterior end of VK, arrow indicates the anterior end of GK; Q. Dorsal view showing the GK. Legend: AM-anterior membranelles; GK-girdle kinety; VK-ventral kinety; VM-ventral membranelles. Scale bars: A-D, H, N. 20 μm; E-G, I, O-Q. 10 μm; J-M. 5μm.</p