Pseudotrichonympha sertaneja n.sp. (Protozoa, Mastigophora), from the intestine of a new termite (Rugitermes sp.) collected in Brazil

Abstract

This paper contains a discussion of the generic and specific characters of Tricho-nympha and Pseudotrichonympha, with a detailed account of the morphology of P. sertaneja n.sp. from a new species of Rugitermes.The basic generic and specific characters of each organelle of Pseudotrichonympha are considered in detail. The genus Pseudotrichonympha has been separated from Trichonympha by the absence of the rostral articulation (citartrosi) and parabasal body. But in at least two species of Pseudotrichonympha a parabasal body has been found, and as Grassi himself believed that citartrosi, however feebly developed, must exist in all Pseudotrichonympha, the taxonomic position of Pseudotrichonympha needs further investigation.The morphology of P. sertaneja n.sp. has the basic generic characters. The specific characters are discontinuous myonemes, oblique instead of longitudinal leiotropic striae, flagella of the first series covering not only the neck but the upper portion of the body, flagella of the second series confined to the basal part of the anterior triangular area of the body, flagella of the third series very short and of uniform size and simple outline of the ectoplasm.The flagellate is regarded as a new species, named P. sertaneja n.sp. The host is a new species of Rugitermes from São Paulo, Brazil.