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From the tychoplankton, collected by net beside the bridge across the stream. The zooids are about 60-70 µm in diameter, and the open peristomial lip is about 100 µm wide. The stalks are 500-600 µm long, extended. Presumably V. campanula. One of the shots is of the cells stained with a fluorescent nucleic acid stain (not entirely specific to nucleic acids as you can see). The last gif is slowed 60 X, trying to capture the moment of contraction.

Video:
https://youtu.be/cLpfNNE8np8

Site of collection: Pavilion, Katsurashima Ryokuchi north pond (a freshwater habitat), Sendai, Japan

Date of collection: December 18th 2021

Weather: Snow

Water temp.: 6.6°C

pH 6.3

Bright field observation using a Wraymer microscope (model BX-3500TL, Osaka, Japan) equipped with a Floyd-2 HDMI ethernet digital camera (Wraymer, Osaka, Japan).

I found a most unusual heterotrich which resides in a bottle-shaped test. This was found in an aspirated sample taken from from surface benthic dwelling algae from the intertidal benthos of marine estuary Acabonac harbor at Louse Point launching ramp. Imaged in Nomarski DIC on Olympus BH2S using SPlan 40x objective plus variable phone camera cropping on Samsung galaxy S9+. Video sped up 4 x to better see the shape changes. Thanks to Bruce Taylor who corrected my initial erroneous identification of this as Fabrea salina. Bruce is quite correct in pointing out that this is a folliculinid.

The cell measures from 74 up to 94 um in length varying as it elongates and shortens somewhat inside the test. It never emerged from its test. The test is wide and bluntly rounded with a quite short wide neck without rim or other adornments and no valve structures. The cell has a rounded posterior end which seems to have some elongate "spatulate" holdfast cytoplasmic extensions adhering it to the bottom of the test. Anteriorly there are two peristomal wings which can be seen with varying clarity as the cell changes position. Entire cell surface is ciliated. There is a compact ellipsoid to bluntly sausage-shaped central macronucleus. These features seem to point to a diagnosis of Folliculina simplex. Both Fauré-Fremiet 1935 (1) and Das 1949 (2) describe and depict Folliculina simplex which correspond to my observation. F. simplex was originally named F. ampulla by Muller, 1854. Kahl discusses this confusion between F. simplex and F. ampulla with regard to macronuclear type- moniliform macronucleus (5-7 nodules) in F. ampulla versus compact macronucleus in F. simplex. Also, Kahl observed valve flaps in the test of F. ampulla while there are none in F. simplex. Indeed Folliculina simplex was my working diagnosis until I gained access to the recent (2022) review and revision of the entire family Folliculinidae of Ye et al (3).

There is one feature that places this in another quite similar genus. The spatulate holdfast character at the base of the cell adhering it to the bottom of the test places this in the genus Ascobius. "Genus Ascobius Henneguy, 1884 Type species. Ascobius lentus Henneguy, 1884 Species assigned. Ascobius lentus Henneguy, 1884; A. claparedi Hadzi, 1951 (syn. Freia ampulla sensu Claparede and Lachmann, 1858); A. faurefremieti Hadfi, 1951 (syn. Folllculina ampulla sensu Faure-Frerniet, 1932); A. simplex (Dons, 1917) Hadzi, 1951; A. sileni Hadzi, 1951 (syn. Folliculina simplex sensu Silen, 1947) Emended diagnosis. Flask single-chambered, flat, and recumbent; neck short and unsculptured; closure device absent; peristomial lobes short, broad, and dissimilar, hold-fast organelle spatulate or broadened: macronucleus compact and single. Remarks. The spatulate or broadened holdfast organelle is the main taxonomic character of this genus. The type species is a rare freshwater species that was redescribed in detail by Mulisch et al. (1998) (4). The other four species in this genus await redescription. Literature. Dons (1917), Hadzi (1951), Henneguy (1884), Kahl (1932) and Mulisch et al. (1998)" (3). In my videos the shape of the holdfast changes and you can see the differences in the spatulate holdfast in the freshwater type species A. lentus. The shape of this holdfast can be quite variable (4).

The Folliculinidae are a family of ciliates in the class Heterotrichea, with the common name "bottle-animalcule", so called because mature individuals are sessile and live inside a bottle-shaped lorica (shell). The cell body has two wing-shaped protrusions, called peristomal wings, which carry the ciliary structures which are part of the oral apparatus, by which they feed. Mature folliculinids are often attached to substrates like algae, plants, and animal shells or carapaces. They can be found in both marine and freshwater habitats, and feed on bacteria and other eukaryotic microorganisms. Their closest relatives are the stentors.

"Folliculinidae Dons, 1914 is the largest group of the ten currently recognized heterotrichous families. Most folliculinid species are found in marine habitats, including intertidal zones, brackish wetlands, and even deep-sea hydrothermal vents (Kouris et al., 2007, Song et al., 2009). Folliculinids are mainly characterized by their transparent lorica, conspicuous pair of peristomial lobes, and dimorphic life cycle with mobile swarmer and sessile trophont stages. They are major components of the periphyton, feeding mainly on bacteria and microalgae, and constitute a food source for metazoans. They thus act as a trophic link between the microbial food web and the mesozooplankton. In the past 200 years, 33 genera and 80 nominal species have been established since the description of Folliculina ampulla (Müller, 1786) Lamarck, 1816, the first folliculinid to be documented. Most species, however, are known only from few fixed individuals or even empty loricae. To date, only nine species have been studied using silver staining or electron microscopy, and small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequence data are available for only five species. Thus, the modern taxonomic information required for appropriately documenting ciliates is either lacking or insufficient for most folliculinid species" (5).

1. THE FOLLICULINIDAE (INFUSORIA: HETEROTRICHA) OF THE BRETON COAST. E. Fauré-Fremiet . THE BIOLOGICAL BULLETIN PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. Vol. LXX. No. 3 June. 1935
2. BRITISH FOLLICULINIDAE (CILIATA, HETEROTRICHA). S. M. Das. JOURN. MAR.BIOL. ASSOC. vol. XXVIII, 1949 pp 381-93.
3. The widely reported but poorly studied ciliate family Folliculinidae (Protozoa, Ciliophora, Heterotrichea): a revision with notes on its taxonomy, morphology and phylogenetic relationships. Tingting Ye, Yaohan Jiang, Shuchang Chen, Yixiang Xu, Lifang Li, Mann Kyoon Shin & Xiangrui Chen. Marine Life Science & Technology volume 4, pp 471–492 (2022).
4. Redescription of Ascobius lentus, a Rare Freshwater Folliculinid (Ciliophora: Heterotrichida) from a Pond in Germany. Maria MULISCH, Thomas HEEP, Wolfgang STURM and Jost BORCHERDING. Acta Protozoologica (1998) 37: 29 - 39
5. Morphology, Life Cycle, and SSU rDNA-based Phylogeny of Two Folliculinid Ciliates (Ciliophora, Heterotrichea, Folliculinidae) Collected from Subtropical Coastal Wetlands of China. lTingting Ye, Jie Huang, Alan Warren, Xuetong Zhao, Bohan Zheng, Hui Zhang, Yuhong Shi, Saleh A. Al-Farraj, Xiangrui Chen. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2021.125844

Acineta compressa Claparede and Lachmann, 1859 found attached to filamentous algae from the shoreline of marine estuary Gardiner's Bay. Average width in 95 um. Imaged in Nomarski DIC on Olympus BH2 using mainly SPlan 20x sometimes 40x objectives plus variable phone camera cropping on Samsung Galaxy S9+.

"Acineta compressa Claparede and Lachmann, 1859 syn Cothurnia havniensis Ehrenberg, 1838 Paracinetapatula Wailes, 1943 Medium (60-130 um long), marine, loricate species that is oval to conical in outline, usually as broad or broader than deep, strongly flattened laterally. There are two anterior-lateral actinophores each bearing a fascicle of capitate tentacles. Stalk long, 100-250 um, which joins the lorica via a definite collar-like region; collar widens to at least twice stalk width. Found attached to marine algae. Spherical macronucleus and a single contractile vacuole. NOTE. Collin (1912) considered Acineta papillifera Keppen, 1888 to be a synonym of this species. Kahl (1934) disagreed and reinstated A. papillifera whose stalk collar has a more complicated structure than A. compressa" (1).

"The papilla is located between the stem and the shell. Euryhaline view. Shell length 100- 120 microns, width 60-76, length of stalk 150-215, diameter 4-6, diameter of basodisk 8-12, macronucleus 18-22, length of tentacles 60-120, diameter of contractile vacuole 10-20... Acineta compressa " (2)

FAMILY ACINETIDAE EHRENBERG, 1838 = Cryptophryidae Jankowski, 1978 syn. n. Suctorians with a laterally flattened, trapezium-like, triangular or (rarely) disc-like body. Tentacles are arranged in two, rarely three fascicles or rows. As a rule actinophores are present. The macronucleus is ovoid or ribbon-like, never ramified. The presence of the stalk and all types of the lorica is characteristic of the family. Swarmers ovoid with longitudinal kineties. Habitat. Commensals of marine and freshwater invertebrates and plants, as well as periphytic forms.

1. A revision of the Suctoria (Ciliophora, Kinetofragminophora) 1. Acineta and its morphological relatives. Colin R. Curds. Bull. Br. Mus Nat. Hist. (Zool.) 1985 48(2): 75-129
2. Keys for identification of tentaculous infusoria (Ciliophora, Suctoria) of the Ukrainian fauna. January 1996Vestnik Zoologii 2:1-42. Igor Dovgal

Staurophrya (maybe S. elegans), a stunning suctorian species found in the river beside my garden. Interestingly, a water blooming caused by Melosira granulata (diatom) which 'yellow' the water, so that I check the algae inside then found this suctorian.

I found most of them attached to the filamentous Melosira and tightly clutch them, as it's hard to seperate it from the Melosira using dissecting needle. It's clear to see its typical captitate tentacles on the 'lobes', and the contractile vacuoles in the main 'body'. Unfortunately，so far nothing about it's sucking Melosira are recorded but found the cytoplasma of some Melosira are absent, still recording.

My sample from the shoreline benthos of marine estuary Shinnecock Bay included some broad leafed algae that were attatched to rocks and the bottom sand. This rotted after four or five days giving rise to a dense fetid smelling bacterial biofilm that supported thriving but ephemeral populations of several organisms: flagellates of the type Carpediemonas-like organisms (CLO), philasterine scuticociliates which I suspect are a species of Metanophrys, and a medium sized hypotrich. The first two are waning while the hypotrich is now quite abundant and predominant. Also appearing at this stage is an interesting suctorian. The body measures 75 um across and is variably acinetoform having a short bell-shaped to inverted triangular configuration with two actinophores present, often well developed but may be reduced in some specimens, each bearing a fascicle of capitate tentacles. No lorica is present giving the impression of a recently begun disseminating swarm of the organism. In fact, single swarmer embryos were noted taking the form of oval buds with 5 oblique ciliary rows. The buds were sometimes observed swimming within the partially hollowed out body of its parent, seemingly consuming its contents.

Given that this is from a marine habitat, from shallow shoreline waters with included alga, and the size and shape of the suctorian forms, I believe this is a developing community of immature swarming and settling Acineta tuberosa or perhaps more appropriately the synonym Acineta foetida (given the foul-smelling character of the biofilm) which is well known to be attached to alga and inanimate surfaces. The oval buds with 5 oblique ciliary rows is also quite characteristic of A. tuberosa (A. foetida). You can see sometimes early maturing buds that have lost their cilia and have developed a few tentacles in two clusters as yet without development of the actinophores.

Imaged in Nomarski DIC on Olympus BH2 using SPlan 100x oil immersion objective plus variable camera phone cropping on Samsung Galaxy S9+.

Curds 1885 considers A. foetidus to be a junior synonym of A. tuberosa (1) while Dovgal 1996 (2) treats A. foetidus as a separate species. Bruce Taylor writes: "Dovgal's scheme supercedes that of Curds, in work published in the last two decades. Some online databases, like CoL and GBIF, still have A. foetida as a synonym of A. tuberosa, but WoRMS accepts the species".

From Curds 1885:
Acineta tuberosa Ehrenberg, 1833
syn.

Brachionus tuberosus Pallas, 1766
Vorticella tuberosa Miller, 1786
Volverella astoma Bory, 1825
Podophrya poculum Allman, 1875 nomen nudum
Acineta poculum Hertwig, 1875
Acineta foetida Maupas, 1881
Acineta aequalis Stokes, 1891
Acineta corrugata Stokes, 1894
Acineta sp. Prowasek, 1900
Acineta tuberosa var.fraiponti Sand, 1901
Acineta tuberosa var. foetida Collin, 1912
Acineta tuberosa f. brevipes Collin, 1912
Acineta laomedeae Precht, 1935
Tokophrya species Precht, 1935
Acineta brevicaulis Rieder, 1936
Acineta limnetis Goodrich and Jahn, 1943
Tokophrya microcerberi Delamare Deboutteville and Chappuis, 1956
Acineta tuberosa var. bipartita Lopez-Ochoterena, 1963

Ubiquitous marine and fresh- and brackish-water species, observed on inanimate substrates, algae, but often found on representatives of crustaceans. This the type species small to medium (25-120 um long), freshwater, brackish or marine loricate suctorian that varies from bell to Y-shape in outline, laterally flattened. Two actinophores present, often well developed but may be reduced in some specimens, each bearing a fascicle of capitate tentacles. Apical aperture dumb-bell shape. Cytoplasm does not always completely fill the lorica which is sometimes smooth but is often transversely striated or ribbed. Stalk variable in length (5-90 um long) joining lorica without an intervening collar or other structure, usually with basal disc. Attached to a variety of substrata including inanimate objects, aquatic plants, Crustacea, isopods and amphipods, and a freshwater turtle. Reproduction by endogenous budding. Oval buds with 5 oblique ciliary rows, incorrectly redrawn with only 4 rows in Kent (1882) see Fig. 3m, n. Spherical macronucleus centrally located, single contractile vacuole situated apically. Often reported from organically polluted environments. NOTE. It will be noted from the synonymy list that this species has had a long and rich nomenclatural history. Because it is so variable in almost all of its attributes it has been given many different specific names. It is probably the most commonly reported of all the species in the genus. Distribution: Widespread.

1. A revision of the Suctoria (Ciliophora, Kinetofragminophora). 1. Acineta and its morphological relatives. Colin R. Curds. Bull. Br. Mm. nat. Hist. (Zool.) 48(2): 75-129.
2. Keys for identification of tentaculous infusoria (Ciliophora, Suctoria) of the Ukrainian fauna. Igor Dovgal. Vestnik Zoologii 2:1-42 Jan. 1996.

Staurophrya elegans, a suctorian from Town Pond East hampton NY sample, fresh water. This species leads a planktonic lifestyle.

Staurophrya
Staurophrya Zacharias, 1893

Staurophrya elegans Zacharias, 1893

Class Kinetofragminophora: Subclass Suctoria: Order Suctorida: Suborder Endogenina

Rounded body bearing six regularly placed short arm-like extensions each of which bear tentacles. Macronucleus is rounded, there may be 1 or 2 contractile vacuoles. Reproduction is by simple endogenous bud formation. Without stalk, without lorica. Staurophrya is most easily confused with Astrophrya.

Staurophrya elegans Zacharias, 1893
Tentacles not capitate; macronucleus round; 1-2 contractile vacuoles; in fresh water.
Measurements
About 50 um in diameter.

Hoffman modulation contrast 200x plus Samsung Galaxy s9+ cropping.

Ephelota gemmipara growing on filamentous algae attached to the small rocks at the the brackish channel that drains Fresh Pond into marine estuarine bay Napeague Harbor. The algae was host to huge colonies of sesile suctorians with broad hyaline pedunculated stalks. Each cell feeds by means of several specialized tentacles. These are supported by microtubules and phyllae, and have toxic extrusomes called haptocysts at the tip, which they attach to prey. They then suck the prey's cytoplasm directly into a food vacuole inside the cell, where they digest and absorb its contents. This feeding behavior with manipulation of the tiny prey by the tentacles and the suctioning could only be observed within an hour of collection after which time the prey died off and the suctorians' tentacles were static. I also observed many individuals in various stages of budding reproduction and witnessed recently budded off ciliated swarmers before they attached to a substrate and lost their cilia and grew tentacles.

Adult form comprises a body borne upon a long stalk. Body usually about 100–300 × 100–250 μm in vivo, variable in shape but generally pyriform (Figs 1B; 3A, C, E). Widest at anterior end, narrowing gradually towards posterior end, circular or slightly flattened in cross-section. Two types of tentacle: six to ten suctorial tentacles about 20–30 μm in length, usually retracted, confined to apical region of body (Figs 1B; 3A, E, K); 30–50 prehensile tentacles up to 200 μm long, thin and sharply pointed, with many granular protuberances, and concentrated in anterior half of body in a crown-like pattern surrounding the suctorial tentacles (Figs 1B; 3A).
Stalk hollow and transparent, highly variable in length (300–1500 μm), widest at junction with body, gradually narrowing to distal end (Figs 1B, H; 3G); without specialized attachment disc at distal end (Fig. 3D, arrow); usually with evenly spaced transverse striations (Figs 1E; 3H). Cytoplasm colourless but usually dark grey or opaque after feeding. Macronucleus ramose and irregular with several elongated branches (Figs 1B, J; 4E). Micronucleus not observed. One or two contractile vacuoles, 15–30 μm in diameter, each with an excretory pore.

Multipleswarmers are produced synchronously during budding (Figs 2C; 3J, L, O, P; 4A, B). Initially the basal bodies that give rise to the locomotor cilia in the transient
larval stage appear to undergo multiplication before the budding process has commenced. The mastoid buds then develop in the apical region of the body and
one elongated branch of the parental macronucleus enters into each bud (Figs. 2C; 4J). The buds undergo further development for several hours before turning into
swarmers which eventually depart from the parent cell, swimming freely in the water. Swarmers about 70–110 × 35–50 μm in vivo, elongated egg-shaped or ear-shaped, anterior end widely rounded, tapering gradually to the posterior end. Dorsal side with four to eight capitate tentacles, each about 12 μm in length in vivo (Figs 1C; 3M, arrows). Capitate tentacles are impossible to observe after protargol impregnation whereas many prehensile tentacles and several suctorial tentacles are clearly visible (Figs 2B,Ventral side flattened and with a horseshoe-shaped ciliary field, the cilia of which are about 6 μm long (Figs 1D; 3R), and a field of densely arranged fragment kineties near the posterior end, the cilia of which are about 8 μm long. Cytoplasm colourless, often containing numerous tiny particles < 1 μm in diameter. One or two contractile vacuoles, each ca. 6–8 μm in diameter, positioned near anterior end (Figs 1C, double-arrowheads; 3M, arrowhead). Movement slow, usually swimming around the parental cell or creeping on the substrate for about one to two hours before attaching and producing a stalk.

Imaged in Nomarski DIC using Olympus BH2S under SPlan 4x, 10x, 20x, and 40x objectives plus variable phone cropping on Samsung S9+.

Redefinitions of Two Marine Suctorian Ciliates, Ephelota gemmipara (Hertwig, 1876) Bütschli, 1889 and E. crustaceorum Haller, 1880 (Ciliophora, Suctoria), with a Brief Description of the Asexual Reproduction Process in E. gemmipara. Xiangrui CHEN, Weibo SONG, Alan WARREN, Khaled A. S. AL-RASHEID, Saleh A. AL-
-FARRAJ, Saleh A. AL-QURAISHY, Jun GONG. Acta Protozool. (2008) 47: 113–124