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© 2017 The International Society of Protistologists.Recent advances in molecular technology have revolutionized research on all aspects of the biology of organisms, including ciliates, and created unprecedented opportunities for pursuing a more integrative approach to investigations of biodiversity. However, this goal is complicated by large gaps and inconsistencies that still exist in the foundation of basic information about biodiversity of ciliates. The present paper reviews issues relating to the taxonomy of ciliates and presents specific recommendations for best practice in the observation and documentation of their biodiversity. This effort stems from a workshop that explored ways to implement six Grand Challenges proposed by the International Research Coordination Network for Biodiversity of Ciliates (IRCN-BC). As part of its commitment to strengthening the knowledge base that supports research on biodiversity of ciliates, the IRCN-BC proposes to populate The Ciliate Guide, an online database, with biodiversity-related data and metadata to create a resource that will facilitate accurate taxonomic identifications and promote sharing of data.

With ease of collection, short life cycles, lack of complex developmental stages, and rapid response to environmental changes, protozoa attract the increasing attention as suitable indicators for bioassessment. In order to reveal the annual variation of protozoan communities and its relation to the environmental conditions in a sub-tropic urban wetland, the protozoan species composition, abundance, diversity, and their correlations with abiotic factors were studied in Xixi wetland, Hangzhou, China. A total of 89 protozoan species comprising 34 ciliates, 13 flagellates, and 42 rhizopods were recorded; 7 of those were the dominant species. The protozoan abundance ranged from 3×104 ind. l-1 to 19.65×104 ind. l-1; ciliates (69.3%) were the primary contributors in terms of relative abundance. The cluster analysis discriminated the protozoan communities into three annual stages: spring, summer-autumn and winter at a 30% similarity level with significant difference. Multivariate correlation analysis showed that temporal variation in protozoan communities was significantly related to the changes of environmental variables, especially water temperature, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients. Three diversity indices (species richness, diversity and evenness) were significantly correlated with the COD and nutrients. The results demonstrated that the annual variation in protozoan abundance represented a clear seasonal shift in response to environmental changes and thus may be used as a potential indicator for assessing water quality in a sub-tropic urban wetland ecosystem.

Pseudepistylis songi n. sp. (Table 1; Figs. 1–37) Diagnosis: Limnetic species with transparent or translucent, dichotomously branched stalk. Zooids elongate, bell-shaped, measuring 220 × 140 μm in vivo on average, with thick peristomial lip that is invariably reflected aborally. One contractile vacuole located on dorsal wall of infundibulum. Macronucleus C-shaped and transversely oriented. More than 137 transverse silverlines between oral area and aboral ciliary wreath, on average 77 between aboral ciliary wreath and scopula. Haplokinety and polykinety make one and one-quarter turns on peristome; terminal ends of kineties of infundibular polykinety 2 terminate adstomally at different levels within infundibulum. Type specimens: One holotype (registration number WZ 2005102504) and one paratype slide (WZ 2006110204) with protargol and silver nitrate impregnated specimens respectively are deposited in the Laboratory of Zoological Systematics, Hangzhou Normal University, China. A second paratype of protargolstained specimens is deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK with registration number 2006: 6: 20: 1. Dedication: We dedicate this new species to Prof. Dr. Weibo Song, Director of Laboratory of Protozoology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, in acknowledgement of his outstanding contributions to the study of ciliated protozoa in China. Type locality: Freshwater pond, Lishui Street, Wenzhou, China (N 28 ° 20.418 ’; E 120 ° 43.817 ’). Ecological data: Freshwater, water temperature 22.4 o C, pH 7.34. Description: The zooid is bell-shaped, in vivo 170–285 μm long and 110–190 μm wide; length to width ratio of the fully extended zooid was 1.30–1.85. The peristomial lip is much wider than greatest body width, thick, and invariably reflected aborally. The peristomial disc is large, dome-shaped, and conspicuously elevated above the peristomial lip (Figs. 1, 11). Contracted zooids are ovoid or dumbbell-shaped (Figs. 6 a,b, 15) with several conspicuous folds, usually numbering 3–4 adoral to the aboral ciliary wreath and 2–3 between the aboral ciliary wreath and the scopula (Figs. 6 a,b, 12, arrowhead). The pellicle appears smooth at low magnification but fine, reticulate striations are visible at higher magnifications (Figs. 5, 30). Colonies without macrozooids. The cytoplasm is grey or colourless, containing many large food vacuoles 13–40 μm in diameter (Figs. 1, 6 b, 11–15). There is one contractile vacuole, ca. 29–37 μm in diameter, located on the dorsal wall of the infundibulum slightly aboral to the peristomial disc (Figs. 1, 11). The thick, C-shaped macronucleus is transversely oriented and located in the mid-body region (Figs. 1, 18, 33); the micronucleus lies near the midregion of the macronucleus (Figs. 1, 33, arrow). The stalk is transparent or translucent, dichotomously branched, and slender, with a main trunk measuring approximately 500 μm long and 9 μm in diameter and zooid-bearing branches measuring 400–500 μm long and 10 μm in diameter (Figs. 3, 20, 21). The stalk surface is smooth. In culture, colonies usually contained only one or two zooids, occasionally four, rarely eight or more (Fig. 3). Zooids are very sensitive to stimuli and readily detach from the stalk to become free-swimming by means of their prominent oral cilia (Figs. 4, 14, 16, 17); free-swimming zooids usually have several pellicular folds (Figs. 4, 14, arrowhead). The telotroch is cylindrical, measuring approximately 220 × 120 μm in vivo, with a conical posterior and domed-shaped anterior protuberance (Figs. 2, 19). Detached zooids can transform into telotrochs. The haplokinety and polykinety of the peristomial infraciliature make approximately one and one-quarter circuits (450 o) around the peristome before plunging into the infundibulum, where they make a further complete circuit (Fig. 10). The haplokinety and polykinety at the peristomial region are folded after protargol impregnation (Figs. 10, 25, 31). This folding is almost certainly a consequence of the extremely broad peristome being compacted into the restricted confines of the peristome proper when the organism contracts. There are three infundibular polykineties, each consisting of three rows of kinetosomes. The adstomal ends of the three rows of infundibular polykinety 1 (P 1) terminate at the same level while those of P 2 terminate at different levels, the kinetosome row next to P 3 being the shortest, and the one next to P 1 the longest (Figs. 8, 9, 26, 27). The latter sometimes has a short, additional branch (Figs. 9, arrow, 27, arrow). The row of P 3 farthest from P 2 (outer row) is shorter than the other two rows (Figs. 8, arrowhead, 9, arrowhead). The outer two rows of P 3 join together approximately 1 / 3 of the way from their abstomal to adstomal ends. The inner row of P 3 terminates adstomally either at the same level as the outer two (Fig. 8, double arrowhead) or above the outer two at about the same level as the outer row of P 2 (Fig. 9, double arrowhead). The haplokinety passes around the infundibulum on the wall opposite to the infundibular polykineties. The germinal kinety (G) is relatively long, lying adoral to and parallel to the haplokinety and terminates adstomally slightly above the adstomal end of the haplokinety (Figs. 10, 26, 27). The aboral ciliary wreath (ACW) of the zooid consists of two staggered rows of kinetosomes (dikinety) that encircle the cell at approximately 1 / 3 of the distance between the scopula and the peristome (Figs. 7, arrow, 35, arrow). The ACW is significantly broader in the telotroch because of the proliferation of kinetosomes to form a polykinety (Figs. 32, 34, arrow). The silverline system is reticulate, consisting of both transverse and longitudinal silverlines (Figs. 5, 30). The transverse silverlines in the oral region of the cell are more widely spaced than those in the aboral region (Fig. 5). The ACW is represented by two parallel silverlines (Figs. 5, 30, arrow). There are 125–145 transverse silverlines between the peristome and the ACW and 70–80 between the ACW and the scopula (Fig. 5). The vertical silverlines are irregularly spaced (Fig. 30). No pellicular pores associated with silverlines were observed. The scopula is the most argentophilic part of the cell (Fig. 37). There are two main kinds of myonemal fibers in Pseudepistylis songi, the longitudinal fibers and the circular fibers, both of which comprise several morphological subtypes. The longitudinal and circular fibers are interconnected to form a single, complete myoneme system. Longitudinal fibers: Three types of longitudinal fiber can be recognized: long longitudinal fibers (LLF), short longitudinal fibers (SLF) and peristomial longitudinal fibers (PLF) (Figs. 7, 22–24, 28, 29). The LLF are less numerous, more diffuse, and more slender than the other two types of longitudinal fibers and extend throughout the entire length of the zooid (Figs. 7, 28, 29). The SLF are the most densely packed and thickest in diameter of the three types and are confined to the region between the PLF and the adoral one third of the zooid (Figs. 7, 29). The PLF are also densely packed, being intermediate in thickness between the other two types, and are confined to the region of the peristomial lip (Figs. 7, 22–24, 29). All three types of longitudinal fibers branch and interconnect with nearby fibers, thus forming a complete, anastomosing, meshlike network (Figs. 7, 28, 29). Circular fibers: Three types of circular fibers were observed in the oral region of the cell. From outermost to innermost these are: peristomial ring fibers (PRF), central ring fibers (CRF), and peristomial disc fibers (PDF) (Figs. 7, 22–25, 29). The PRF consists of approximately 10 individual circular fibers located within the peristomial lip (Figs. 7, 22–24, 29, 36). The CRF comprises several circular fibers that combine to form a conspicuously thickened fiber located in the adoral part of the cell and connecting to the adoral ends of the PLF (Figs. 7, 22–25, 29). It appears that contraction of the CRF causes the peristomial disc to elevate when the zooid contracts (Figs. 13, 24, 25). The PDF are relatively inconspicuous, short, bundles (Figs. 23, 24).

Genus Pseudepistylis n. gen. Diagnosis: Possessing diagnostic characteristics of the family Epistylididae but with reticulate rather than transverse silverline system; colonial, with branched non-contractile stalk; oral ciliary rows make less than two circuits on the peristome before entering the infundibulum. Type species: Pseudepistylis songi n. sp. Etymology: Composite of the Greek adjective pseud meaning ���similar to��� and the generic name Epistylis. Feminine gender., Published as part of Peng, Xiaohui, Shi, Xinlu & Warren, Alan, 2007, Establishment of a new peritrich ciliate genus, Pseudepistylis n. gen. (Ciliophora: Peritrichia: Epistylididae), with a description of a new freshwater species, Pseudepistylis songi n. sp. from Wenzhou, China, pp. 35-45 in Zootaxa 1524 on pages 36-37, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.177493