New records of interstitial ciliates (Protozoa Ciliophora) from the saudi coasts of the red sea

Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia (E-mail: [email protected])Sediment samples were collected from the intertidal zone at various localities on the southern shores of the Red Sea and the marine interstitial ciliate fauna was studied. Eighteen species were identified in live specimens and after protargol impregnation; 14 of them represent new records for the Red Sea fauna. The distribution of each species was compared to that in similar habitats worldwide. The present study increases the total known number of ciliate species in the Red Sea to 43

Blepharisma intermedium Padmavathi, 1959 (Ciliophora: Heterotrichida) from Al-Hassa Inland Hypersaline Oasis in Saudi Arabia

1) Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia; 2) Department of Cell Biology, Zoological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3Private Laboratory, Faaborg, DenmarkA medium-sized, pink heterotrich ciliate was found in hypersaline ponds in the inland Al-Hassa Oasis. The morphology and infraciliature were studied in vivo, and in silver carbonate and protargol impregnated cells. The organism has a slender filiform macronucleus without terminal swellings. The morphology and morphometric data agree largely with the original description of Blepharisma intermedium Padmavathi, 1959; however, the present organism has fewer kineties and both kinetosomes of somatic dikinetids are ciliated. The findings are discussed on the basis of a summary made from available data on other Blepharisma species with a filiform macronucleus

Environmental determinants of diatom assemblages along a North African wadi, the Kebir-East, North-East Algeria

A total of 322 benthic diatoms with the majority being cosmopolitan species was recorded during a survey of the catchment area of the Kebir-East wadi, northeast Algeria. The spatial distribution patterns of diatom communities in relation to environmental gradients were examined using Co-Inertia Analysis (CIA) for ascertaining the interdependence between physico-chemical descriptors and diatom assemblages in 182 samples, collected over a period of 3 years, across 23 sampling stations. There was a significant covariance between the environmental data set and the benthic diatom data set with the CIA highlighting correlations between environmental factors and diatom species. A clear longitudinal gradient was a main driver of diatom communities with upstream sites characterized by high dissolved oxygen concentrations and downstream sites characterized by high organic load and nutrient enrichment of the water. A further factor influencing the shape of diatom assemblages was related to the conductivity, and the high values possibly reflected the close proximity of the sea to the downstream sites. An anthropogenic impact was also most evident in structuring diatom assemblages at sites close to Lake Oubeïra where agriculture was concentrated

A precipitous decline of the Algerian Newt Pleurodeles poireti Gervais, 1835 and other changes in the status of amphibians ofNumidia, North-Eastern Algeria

The worldwide erosion of biological diversity has not spared amphibians which are amongst the most affected taxa with numerous extinct or near-extinct species. Our knowledge of the status and ecology of amphibians of Algeria is still limited whereas local natural habitats are fast disappearing under a strong anthropogenic pressure. Eighty two localities were sampled between 1996 and 2010, to survey the amphibian community within Numidia, North-Eastern Algeria. Nine species, three Urodeles (Pleurodeles poireti, Pleurodeles nebulosus and Salamandra algira and six Anurans (Bufo bufo spinosus, Bufo mauritanicus, Bufo viridis, Discoglossus pictus, Hyla meridionalis and Pelophylax saharicus) were found within the region. Results suggest a marked, rapid and unexplained crash of the Algerian Newt Pleurodeles poireti, a species endemic to a small area in and around Djebel Edough (Annaba). Information on the status (abundance and distribution) of each recorded taxon is provided and conservation measures are discussed in the light of an apparent local decline of Anurans and the vulnerability of three species (S. algira, P. nebulosus and B. bufo spinosus).Déclin précipité du Triton de Poiret Pleurodeles poireti Gervais, 1835 et autres changements du statut des amphibiens de Numidie, Algérie du Nord-Est. La crise aiguë que traverse la biodiversité à l’échelle planétaire n’a pas épargné les amphibiens qui figurent parmi les taxons les plus touchés, illustrés par le déclin prononcé ou la disparition de plusieurs espèces. Notre connaissance du statut et de l’écologie des amphibiens d’Algérie reste limitée alors que les milieux naturels locaux subissent une pression anthropique intense qui ne fait que s’accroître et qui risque de s’exacerber sous l’effet du réchauffement climatique. Dans le but d’inventorier et d’évaluer le statut du peuplement d’amphibiens du complexe de zones humides de la Numidie, «point chaud» pour de nombreux taxons aquatiques et poche relictuelle afrotropicale, nous avons échantillonné 82 sites entre 1996 et 2010. Un total de neuf espèces dont trois Urodèles (Pleurodeles poireti Gervais, 1835, Pleurodeles nebulosus (Guichenot, 1850) et Salamandra algira Bedriaga, 1883) et six Anoures (Bufo bufo spinosus, Bufo mauritanicus Schlegel, 1841, Bufo viridis Laurenti, 1768, Discoglossus pictus Otth, 1837, Hyla meridionalis Boettger, 1874 et Pelophylax saharicus Boulanger in Hartert, 1913) ont été inventoriées. Un fait marquant est le déclin net, rapide et inexpliqué du Triton de Poiret Pleurodeles poireti, espèce endémique à une région limitée au Djebel Edough et ses environs, au cours des dernières années. Le statut de trois espèces (S. algira, P. nebulosus and B. bufo spinosus) semble préoccupant au vu des pressions anthropogéniques qui s’exercent sur la Numidie qui abrite 82% des amphibiens d’Algérie.Samraoui Boudjéma, Samraoui Farrah, Benslimane Nouara, Alfarhan Ahmed, Al-Rasheid Khaled A.S. A precipitous decline of the Algerian Newt Pleurodeles poireti Gervais, 1835 and other changes in the status of amphibians ofNumidia, North-Eastern Algeria. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 67, n°1, 2012. pp. 71-81

Two New Ciliates from the North China Seas, Schizocalyptra aeschtae nov. spec. and Sathrophilus holtae nov. spec., with New Definition of the Genus Sathrophilus (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophora)

1) Laboratory of Protozoology, KLM, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, P. R. China; 2) College of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, P. R. China; 3) Department of Zoology, the Natural History Museum, London, UK; 4Zoology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The living morphology, infraciliature, and silverline system of two marine ciliates, Schizocalyptra aeschtae nov. spec. and Sathrophilus holtae nov. spec. collected from sandy beaches near Qingdao, north China seas, were investigated. Schizocalyptra aeschtae is diagnosed as follows: 75–200 × 30–80 μm in vivo, bilaterally flattened about 1:2; about 15 prolonged cilia in posterior half of body; 60 somatic kineties on average; bases of membranelle 1 (M1) and M2b short; M3 about the same length as M2a; paroral membrane with 6–12 fragments at its posterior part; 2 to numerous macronuclear nodules in different shapes and sizes; one large contractile vacuole terminally located; marine habitat. Sathrophilus holtae nov. spec. is characterized by: in vivo 35–70 × 20–40 μm, cylindrical in outline; dorsoventrally flattened, with a conspicuously long caudal bristle; 21 somatic kineties on average; M1 three-rowed and bipartite with first row conspicuously long and separated from the other two; M2 two-rowed and L-shaped; ratio of lengths of M2 to M3 about 3:1; paroral membrane extending to above level of M2; one contractile vacuole pore at the end of SK1; marine habitat. Since no diagnosis according to modern investigation is available for the genus Sathrophilus, a new definition is supplied: dorsoventrally flattened, elongated Cinetochilidae with Tetrahymena-like buccal apparatus and bipartite M1; paroral membrane slightly curved, terminating anteriorly to about level of M1/M2; buccal field above the equatorial level; postoral kineties and groups of kinetosomes (scutica) present; having a distinctly long caudal bristle and one conspicuous, cilia-free apically plate. The systematic position of Sathrophilus is briefly discussed which, based on the morphological and morphogenetic characters of Sathrophilus holtae, appears to be a loxocephalid rather than a scuticociliate or a hymenostomatid. In addition, a synonym is recognized, i.e. Paradexiotricha, and a new combination is suggested: Sathrophilus puytoraci (Grolière 1975) nov. comb. [basionym: Paradexiotricha puytoraci Grolière, 1975]

A Unique euplotid ciliate, gastrocirrhus (Protozoa, Ciliophora): assessment of Its phylogenetic position inferred from the small subunitr RNA gene sequence

a) Laboratory of Protozoology, KLM, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China, and b) Zoology Department, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaThe morphologically unique genus Gastrocirrhus has been considered a distinct but systematically uncertain euplotid due to the absence of both morphogenetic and molecular information. Based on the small subunit rRNA gene sequence, the phylogenetic position of Gastrocirrhus monilifer Ozaki & Yagui, 1942 was re-addressed using multiple algorithms (neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, least-squares, and Bayesian inference methods). Results indicate that: (1) all phylogenetic trees using different methods are nearly identical in topology, placing G. monilifer closest to Euplotidium arenarium; (2) Gastrocirrhus and Euplotidium form a monophyletic group, namely the family Gastrocirrhidae, and appear to be intermediate taxa bridging the evolution of the Diophrys-Uronychia and Euplotes-complexes (i.e. Euplotes, Certesia, and Aspidisca); (3) the order Euplotida is a paraphyletic group composed of three deeply diverged clades (Euplotes–Certesia–Aspidisca–Gastrocirrhus–Euplotidium; Uronychia–Diophrys; and Prodiscocephalus); (4) together with Prodiscocephalus, the Diophrys-Uronychia complex forms a group at the suborder level and is placed at the root of the order Euplotida, and (5) results from molecular analyses conspicuously challenge the conclusions deduced from morphological as well as morphogenetical investigations—the characteristics traditionally used to define the euplotid taxa at the generic level and/or above may not be uniformly reliable