Morphological redescriptions and neotypification of two poorly known tintinnine ciliates (Alveolata, Ciliophora, Tintinnina), with a phylogenetic investigation based on SSU rRNA gene sequences

Abstract

Two poorly known tintinnine ciliates collected from the coastal waters of PR China, viz., Codonellopsis mobilis Wang, 1936 and Tintinnopsis chinglanensis Nie & Ch’eng, 1947, were redescribed and neotypified using live observation, protargol staining and SSU rRNA gene sequencing. Ciliature information and SSU rRNA gene sequence data of both species were revealed for the first time and improved diagnoses were given based on the original descriptions and data from the present study. Further phylogenetic analyses inferred from SSU rRNA gene sequences and morphological data suggested that the genus Tintinnopsis is polyphyletic and that the genus Codonellopsis is non-monophyletic. The approximately unbiased test, however, does not reject the possibility that Codonellopsis is monophyletic.