Morphology and Molecular Phylogeny of a New Hypotrich Ciliate, <italic>Pseudourostyla guizhouensis</italic> sp. nov. from Southern China, with Notes on a Chinese Population of <italic>Hemicycliostyla franzi</italic> (Foissner, 1987) Paiva et al., 2012 (Ciliophora, Hypotricha)

Abstract: The morphology and molecular phylogeny of a soil hypotrich ciliate, <italic>Pseudourostyla guizhouensis</italic> sp. nov., collected from southern China, were investigated. <italic>Pseudourostyla guizhouensis</italic> sp. nov. has an elongate elliptical body measuring 180–310 × 65–85 μm in vivo; invariably two right and three or four left marginal rows; six or seven dorsal kineties; adoral zone consisting of 57–70 membranelles; 12–16 frontal cirri, one buccal cirrus, 13–20 midventral pairs, two frontoterminal cirri, two pretransverse cirri, and five to seven transverse cirri. Morphogenesis during physiological regeneration indicates that the marginal rows of each side originate from a common anlage that differentiates into several rows. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on SSU rDNA sequence data reveals that <italic>P</italic>. <italic>guizhouensis</italic> sp. nov. clusters with the type species <italic>P. cristata</italic> (Jerka‐Dziadosz, 1964) Borror, 1972 and that the genus <italic>Pseudourostyla</italic> is monophyletic. The morphological characters of another soil hypotrich ciliate, <italic>Hemicycliostyla franzi</italic> (Foissner, 1987) Paiva et al., 2012, are also described based on a Chinese (Guizhou) population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]