Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole Part 10

Trachelocerca phoenicopterus Cohn '66. Fig. 30.

Synonyms: _T. sagitta_ Ehr. '40, Stein '59; _T. tenuicollis_ Quennerstedt '67, Kent '81; _T. minor_ Gruber '87, Shevyakov '96.

The body is extremely elongate and ribbon-like, and this, combined with its wonderful power of extension and retraction, makes it one of the most curious and interesting of microscopic forms. The anterior end is square or cylindrical; the type species has a four-sided mouth, but many specimens may be found which have a plain cylindrical mouth region. One reason for this may be the fact that the extremity gets broken off. In one instance I noticed a very large form with the anterior end under some debris, which evidently held it tight, for the body of the ciliate was thrashing back and forth and twisting itself into knots, etc., like a nematode worm. Finally, the anterior end broke off with about one-tenth of the body; the remainder, in an hour, had regenerated a new anterior end with long cilia, but with no indication of four sides. The small anterior piece was also very lively, moving about and eating like the normal animal; its history, however; was not followed. This species appears to be variable in other ways as well; thus, in some cases the posterior end is rounded (cf. Entz '84); in others it is pointed (cf. Kent '81, Cohn '66, et al.).

Again, the macronucleus may be a single round body (Entz '84, Butschli '88) or in two parts (Kent '81), or in many parts scattered about the body (Gruber). In the Woods Hole forms the tail is distinctly pointed and turned back sharply, forming an angle at the extremity. The cilia on this angular part are distinctly longer than the rest. The function of this posterior part is apparently to anchor the animal while it darts here and there upon the tail as a pivot, contracting and expanding the while. The body is finely striated with longitudinal markings; when contracted there are no transverse markings nor annulations. The nucleus is in the form of many fragments scattered throughout. Length of large specimen 1.7 mm.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 30.--_Trachelocerca phoenicopterus_.]

Genus MESODINIUM Stein '62.

(Maupas '82, '84; Entz '84; Shevyakov '96.)

The main part of the body is globular or conical, with a short, platform-like oral region, and a deep annular groove about the middle of the body. The oesophagus is rather long, and smooth or longitudinally striped. One or more rings of cirri rise in the groove. If more than one ring of cirri are present, the anterior set usually point forward and lie close to the anterior part of the body.

The posterior set, on the other hand, cling close to the posterior region of the body and give to it a peculiar encapsuled appearance.

The most characteristic feature is the presence of four short tentacle-like processes which can be protracted and retracted from the oral region. (Mereschowsky says that the entire anterior half is more or less contractile.) The macronucleus is horseshoe-shaped or ovoid and is situated in the posterior half of the body. The contractile vacuole is also posterior.

Movement consists in rapid swimming, with rotation on its axis, or in creeping by means of its anterior cirri, or in sudden jumping, by which it apparently clears a distance of 20 times its diameter in one bound. Mouth parts may also be used for attachment to foreign bodies.

The moving periods alternate with quiescent periods, during which the organisms with their outstretched and radiating cirri resemble the heliozoon _Actinophrys_.

Mesodinium cinctum, n. sp. Fig. 31.

Body spherical to pyriform, constricted near the middle, the constriction dividing the body into dissimilar parts. The anterior part is broadly pyriform, somewhat plastic and hyaline, with an oral extremity which is sometimes hollow, sometimes ev.a.g.i.n.ated and convex.

Upon this flexible anterior part there are four short but distensible tentacles. The posterior part is granular and usually filled with food particles; it is well rounded and holds the nucleus and contractile vacuole. The entire body is surrounded by a fine cuticle.

The nucleus is elongate and extends through the greater part of the posterior half. The contractile vacuole lies on one side, near the girdle. The mouth is on the anterior pole in the tentacle region. The motile organs are cirri and cilia, all inserted in the constriction.

There are two sets of cirri and one of cilia; the latter stand out radially from the girdle and are usually in motion. The cirri of one set, the anterior, extend forward about twice the length of the anterior half; those of the posterior set closely engirdle the lower half, reaching not quite to the posterior extremity. These are somewhat hyaline and are closely approximated, giving the impression of a tight-fitting crenulate casing about the lower half. The cirri are sharply pointed, much broader at the base, and the two sets are so placed that, looked at from above, they have the appearance of a twisted cord. (Fig. 31 b.) Movement erratic; sometimes the animal swims steadily forward with mouth in front; again it shoots across the field of the microscope, either backward or forward or sideways, through the action of its powerful cirri. It is often quiet, usually mouth downward, and is held in place by adhesion of the tentacles. In this position it looks strikingly like a heliozoon.

Length 35; greatest width 30. Not uncommon.

The chief features by which this species is distinguished from the frequently described _M. pulex_ of Europe are the number of anterior cirri and the ring of true cilia in place of the central girdle of cirri. The European form is described with four anterior bristles; the present form has from 28 to 32. The radial cilia differ decidedly from the more powerful cirri and they are not in one plane, so that counting is difficult; they are not closely set. The presence of tentacles makes these forms of especial theoretical interest, especially in the light of the origin of _Suctoria_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 31.--Side and top views of _Mesodinium cinctum_.]

Genus TIARINA R. S. Bergh '79.

(Claparede & Lachmann '58.)

Body subcylindrical, pointed posteriorly, two and one-half times as long as broad; encased in covering composed of separate pieces arranged in five girdles. The pieces bear processes which rest against neighboring pieces of the girdle. Mouth large, a.n.u.s terminal near contractile vacuole. The macronucleus is simple and round. Salt water.

Tiarina fusus (Cl. & Lach.) emend R. S. Bergh.

Synonyms: _Coleps fusus_ Cl. & Lach. '58; Daday '86; Mobius '88, Lauterborn '94; Shevyakov '86.

This form, which resembles _Coleps_ rather closely, was placed as a separate genus by R. S. Bergh. The skeletal parts consist of five zones of needles composed of an organized substance and embedded in the cortical plasm, the last zone coming to a point at the posterior end. The needles have lateral processes, which give a latticed appearance to the casing. The cilia are long, with a specialized crown of still longer ones at the oral end; they arise outside of the skeletal elements and do not pa.s.s between them, as in _Coleps_.

KEY TO MARINE GENERA OF TRACHELINIDae.

Diagnostic characters: Body bilateral, or asymmetrical by local prolongations; usually compressed or flattened laterally, the left side more convex than the right. The essential feature is the position and character of the mouth. This is either a long slit extending from the anterior end well down the ventral surface, or the posterior part only of a ventral furrow remains open as a round or elongate mouth some distance from the anterior end. The entire mouth region of the body is usually drawn out into an elongate tapering proboscis which is generally curved dorsally at the extremity.

An oesophagus is short or absent altogether; when present it is supported by a stiff buccal armature. Cilia are uniform about entire body or limited to the flat right side. Food is swallowed.

1. a. Proboscis easily distinguished 2 from the main body

b. Proboscis not marked off from Genus *_Loxophyllum_ main body; body flat; both surfaces striated

2. a. Mouth runs the entire length Genus _Amphileptus_ of proboscis; entire body uniformly ciliated

b. Mouth runs the entire length Genus *_Lionotus_ of proboscis; body flat; right side only is ciliated

c. Proboscis much drawn out, Genus _Dileptus_ flexible; mouth at its base

* Presence at Woods Hole indicated by asterisk.

Genus LOXOPHYLLUM Dujardin '41.

(Duj. '41; Wrzesniowski '69; Quennerstedt '65; '67; Cohn '66; Entz '84; Gourret & Roeser '88; Butschli '88; Shevyakov '96.)

The body is flat and somewhat leaf-shape, flexible, and elastic. The anterior end is somewhat proboscis-like and flexible, but is not sharply demarcated as in _Lionotus_. The central portion of the body is developed into a more or less arched dorsal ma.s.s, which usually contains the nuclei and contractile vacuoles. As a result of this local thickening, the body is surrounded by a thin hyaline margin.

This, however, may be absent on the right side in some species. The mouth reaches from the anterior extremity to a short distance from the end, and usually approaches the left edge. An a.n.u.s is present near the posterior end of the dorsal swelling. Trichocysts are numerous on the ventral surface, and often on the dorsal surface, where they are inclosed in minute papilla-like swellings.

Cilia-distribution controverted. Maupas and Butschli hold that ventral surface alone is ciliated; others (Kent and Dujardin) that cilia are uniformly distributed. The entire body, dorsal and ventral surfaces alike, are uniformly striated. The contractile vacuole lies posteriorly, on the right side and in the dorsal swelling. In the fresh-water form _L. meleagris_, it is connected with a long ca.n.a.l whose swellings are frequently taken for additional contractile vesicles (Butschli); in the marine form described below the ca.n.a.l is not developed and a series of vacuoles takes its place; these are all contractile. The macronucleus may be single, double, quadruple, band-formed, or rosette-formed. Movement is steadily progressive and peculiarly gliding. Fresh and salt water.

Loxophyllum setigerum Quenn. '67.

Synonyms: _Litosolenus armatus_ Stokes '93; _Litosolenus verrucosa_ Stokes '93.

The body is flattened, irregular in outline, obtusely pointed anteriorly, the point being turned to the right; rounded posteriorly.

The left edge is nearly straight, the right considerably arched with a few setae on the posterior half. Contractile vacuoles are numerous, dorsal in position and on the right side. The macronueleus is beaded, the several spheres connected.

Variety armatum (Cl. & Lach.) Fig. 32.

Under the name _Litosolenus armatus_, Stokes described a form from brackish water near New York, which should unquestionably be referred to the genus _Loxophyllum_, and I believe to Quennerstedt's species _setigerum_. While the latter possesses only a few setae, the former has a number of them, and Stokes described his species as having a variable number. For this reason I include the Woods Hole form under the tentative name _armatum_, as a variety of Quennerstedt's _L.

setigerum_. The flat margins are distinctly striated longitudinally, and faintly marked radially, on the dorsal surface. Longitudinal elevated striae also run the length of the dorsal hump and upon the entire ventral surface. The ventral surface is alone ciliated. Upon the edges of the flat border are sharp-pointed, colorless, spine-like processes, situated at equal distances around the entire periphery except at the anterior end. Each spine is thick at the base and tapers to a full point which is curved upward--_i. e._, dorsally (fig. 32, a, b). The entire body is plastic and contractile, turning its leaf-like edge readily over objects upon which it creeps. The cilia are fine and uniform, with a tendency to lengthen in the oral region.

Length 100; greatest width a.s.sumed on contraction 85; when normal about 50.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 32.--_Loxophyllum setigerum_, var. _armatum_. a, b, c, ventral, dorsal, and lateral aspects.]