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The present paper documents the morphology and systematic positions of three new oligotrich ciliates, P arallelostrombidium obesum sp. nov., P arallelostrombidium ellipticum sp. nov., and S trombidium tropicum sp. nov., which were sampled from habitats with different salinities in southern China. P arallelostrombidium obesum sp. nov. is characterized by a fat body and the posterior portions of the girdle and ventral kineties extending transversely on the dorsal side. P arallelostrombidium ellipticum sp. nov. is recognizable by the anterior ends of the girdle and ventral kineties being close to each other and the posterior ends of the girdle and ventral kineties intersecting on the dorsal side. S trombidium tropicum sp. nov. is distinguished by a ventrally opened girdle kinety that is slightly spiralled with the right end shifted posteriad. Small subunit rRNA gene trees show that P . obesum sp. nov. and P . ellipticum sp. nov. fall into a mixed group composed of Parallelostrombidium and some Novistrombidium species, and that S . tropicum sp. nov. branches at the base of the clade containing non- Strombidium species. The relationships of Parallelostrombidium species and that of Strombidium species are both not resolved considering their low support values in our phylogenetic analysis. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The morphology and infraciliature of a new ciliate, Aspidisca hongkongensis spec. nov., a large marine form isolated from the coastal waters near Hong Kong, were investigated. It differs from the congeners by the combination of cell size (about 90×60μm in vivo), 9–11 conspicuous dorsal ridges, one fine and seven strong frontoventral cirri, six membranelles in anterior portion of adoral zone, and 17–23 membranelles in posterior portion of adoral zone. The comparison with similar congeners clearly supports the distinction of this new species based on morphological and small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequence studies. The SSU rRNA gene sequence similarity within the genus is about 75.3–92.1% which indicates that this is a distinct form. Phylogenetic trees based on SSU rRNA gene information show that A. hongkongensis groups with A. leptaspis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]