A New Species of Lagenophrys (Ciliophora: Peritricha: Lagenophryidae) Ectocommensal on the Wood-Boring Isopod Limnoria (Flabellifera: Limnoridae)

Abstract

Lagenophrys limnoriae n. sp., a loricate peritrich, occurs on the pleopods of species of the marine isopod genus Limnoria. The new species is distinguished from other members of Lagenophrys by a combination of characteristics, including proportions of the lorica, an anterior bulge in the lorica, the shape and height of the lips of the lorica aperture, the frequent presence of rows of bead-like thickenings on the lorica surface, and the shape of the macronucleus. L. limnoriae probably benefits from food particles carried in the current that the hosts generate to ventilate their burrows. The genus Lagenophrys Stein, 1852 is a cosmopolitan group of loricate peritrichs that contains more than 50 known species currently. Members of Lagenophrys3 are obligate ectocommensals of crustaceans and apparently depend on currents created by respiratory or locomotory activities of the host to bring them particulate food (Clamp, 1973), which then is captured by suspension feeding as in other peritrichs. Amphipods, decapods, and isopods are the most frequent hosts, although some species of Lagenophrys utilize copepods, ostracods, and cladocerans. Few members of the genus occur on marine hosts, only one of them on marine isopods (Santhakumari, 1976; Santhakumari & Gopalan, 1980). In addition, an undescribed species of Lagenophrys was observed on the marine wood-boring isopod Limnoria Leach, 1813 by Mohr (1959). I discovered and describe herein a new species of Lagenophrys occurring on two species of Limnoria. This new species appears to be the one observed by Mohr (1959). MATERIALS AND METHODS Specimens of Limnoria were collected by hand from pilings and wooden debris in the intertidal zone at localities in North Carolina and British Columbia. I am grateful to Drs. Phyllis Bradbury and Barbara Grimes for reading of the manuscript. This paper was part of a thesis submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. in Zoology at North Carolina State University. It is Paper No. 2 for 1987 of the North Carolina Biological Survey. 2 Reprint requests should be directed to the museum address. 3 Jankowski (1980) moved all species of Lagenophrys whose loricae are circular in outline to the new genus Circolagenophrys, leaving two species whose loricae are oval in outline in Lagenophrys. Lorica shape is not a valid generic character in the Lagenophryidae (Clamp, 1984); therefore, Lagenophrys and not Circolagenophrys is the correct generic designation of the species described in this paper. TRANS. AM. MICROSC. SOC., 107(1): 12-16. 1988. ? Copyright, 1988, by the American Microscopical Society, Inc. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.146 on Fri, 10 Jun 2016 06:31:18 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms VOL. 107, NO. 1, JANUARY 1988 They were fixed in Bouin's fluid for at least 24 h and then transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol. Permanent preparations were made by staining with Heidenhain's iron hematoxylin (Kirby, 1950). Samples of peritrichs were stained with protargol using the basic method given in Kirby (1950), except that copper was omitted from the protargol solution. Unfortunately, the buccal infraciliature was not stained clearly enough in any individual ciliate to permit its description. Material also was fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer and examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) following critical-point drying and coating with carbon and gold. Fixed and stained material was used for all drawings and measurements (living Lagenophrys are of little value in taxonomic work because some critical features cannot be seen satisfactorily in the living state). Physical attributes of one sample (n = 25) were measured with a filar micrometer. Individuals drawn or measured were viewed from the dorsal aspect and were oriented parallel to the plane of the slide or nearly so. Special terminology applicable to Lagenophrys (see Kane, 1965) is used in this paper.