Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole Part 19

Vorticella marina Greeff. Fig. 60.

The body is conical but variable, and may he short or elongate, so that relative length and breadth offer no chance of identification.

In general the body is campanulate. The distinguis.h.i.+ng feature is the transverse annulation of the bell.

Small, but common, and grows in small social groups. Length 35.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 60.--_Vorticella marina_.]

Genus ZOOTHAMNIUM (Bory de St. Vincent 1824) Stein '38, '54.

Colorless and highly contractile forms growing in small or large colonies. The form and structure of the individuals is not different from _Vorticella_. The colonies are usually richly branched upon the dichotomous plan and the entire colony is contractile. The main character is that with each division of the individual the stalk also divides, each daughter cell getting one-half of the parent stem.

The stems therefore remain in communication, so that a simultaneous contraction results, and the colony as a whole is withdrawn. In some species so-called macrogonidia, or larger s.e.xual individuals, are developed alongside the usual ones. Fresh and salt water.

Zoothamnium elegans D'Udekem '64? Fig. 61.

The bodies are variable--peristomial border widely dilated, tapering and attenuate posteriorly. The pedicle is slender, smooth, and transparent, and branches spa.r.s.ely at its distal extremity. There are but few zooids (3 to 4). The ciliary disk projects conspicuously beyond the peristomial border. The pharyngeal cleft is very distinct and extends beyond center of body. Length of body 80.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 61.--_Zoothamnium elegans_.]

Genus COTHURNIA (Ehr. '31) Clap. & Lach. '58.

Colorless forms of medium size-in some cases they may be green by Zoochlorella. The general structure is similar to that of _Vorticella_, but the individuals are elongate and occupy houses. The macronucleus is invariably long and band-form. The distinguis.h.i.+ng character is the colorless or brownish lorica of quite variable form but always attached. These houses may be finger-formed, with widened center, or widened mouth, or constricted mouth, and the like.

Ring-formed swellings are frequently developed. Sometimes the mouth becomes twisted and the lorica is therefore bilateral. The houses are attached either directly to some foreign object or by means of a short stalk. The animals are similarly fastened to the lorica, sometimes directly, sometimes by means of a short stalk. When they contract they draw back to the bottom of the lorica; when expanded they usually stretch out of the mouth opening. In some forms there is an operculum, by means of which the opening of the sh.e.l.l can be closed when the animal is retracted. Fresh and salt water.

The number of species of _Cothurnia_ has become so great that the difficulty in placing forms is almost sufficient to discourage the systematist; as Butschli well remarks, the variations in the theca have been made the basis of new species so many times that the genus is almost as confused as _Difflugia_ among the rhizopods or _Campanularia_ among the hydroids. The length of cup, of stalk, the presence of annulations on stalk or cup, etc., have given rise to many specific names, the majority of which I believe can be discarded. According to such differentials the same branch of an alga holding a hundred specimens of _Cothurnia crystallina_ yield 10 or 12 species, whereas they are merely growth stages of one and the same form.

Cothurnia crystallina Ehr. Fig. 62.

Synonyms: _Vaginicolla crystallina_ Ehr., Perty, Eichwald; _V.

grandis_ Perty; _V. pedunculata_ Eichwald; _Cothurnia crystallina_ Claparede & Lachmann, D'Udek.; _C. gigantea_ D'Udek; _C. maritima_, _C. crystallina_ Cohn; _C. grandis_ Meresch.

The form of the cup shows the greatest differences; sometimes it is cylindrical, sometimes elongate thimble-shape, sometimes pouch-shape, corrugated or smooth on the sides, and wavy or smooth on border.

Frequently the basal part becomes stalk-like, but this is very short.

When present, the stalk may or may not have a k.n.o.b-like swelling. The animal within the cup may or may not be borne on a stalk, and this stalk may or may not be k.n.o.bbed. The cups are colorless or brown. The animal is very contractile and may stretch half its length out of the cup or retract well into it. There is no operculum. The length of the cup varies from 70 to 200 (_C. gigantea_; _Vag. grandis_, etc.).

From Entz.

There is nothing to add to Entz's characterization of this species, which is found both in fresh and salt water. The variability of the cup and stalk is quite noticeable in the Woods Hole forms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 62.--_Cothurnia crystallina_.]

Cothurnia imberbis Ehrenberg, var. curvula Entz. Fig. 63.

Synonyms: _C. imberbis_ Kent et al.; _C. curvula_ Entz; _C. socialis_ Gruber?

The lorica is swollen posteriorly, narrowest at the oral margin, bent on its axis and is supported on a short stalk. It is perfectly smooth and without annulations. The animal itself has no definite stalk.

When fully expanded the animal emerges but slightly from the margin of the cup. Fresh and salt water. On red algae. Dimensions of Woods Hole form: Cup 50 to 55 long; greatest diameter 22; length of stalk 4 to 5.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 63.--_Cothurnia imberbis_.]

Cothurnia nodosa Claparede & Lachmann. Fig.64.

A. Smooth cup.--_Cothurnia maritima_ Ehr., Eichwald, Stein, Kent.

B. Cross-ringed cup.--_C. pupa_ Eichwald, Stein, Cohn; _C. nodosa_ Cl & L.; _V. crystallina_ Entz '78; _C. pontica_ Meresch., Kent; _C. cohnii_ and _pupa_ Kent; _C. longipes_ Kellicott '94.

The cup is elongated, swollen centrally, tapering at oral end and conical at base or rounded. Oral opening either circular or elliptical. Cross rings may or may not be present, and the cup is either smooth or annulate. Length of cup 70 to 80. The stalk which supports the cup is extremely variable in length. The animal is borne upon a stalk of variable length within the cup.

Entz states that the many variations which this species exhibits run into each other so gradually that he does not believe it wise to separate them. The Woods Hole forms which I found on algae of various kinds were nearly of a size, and did not vary much from the one figured. Kellicott '94 described a _Cothurnia_ from Woods Hole under the name of _C. longipes_, which I believe is only a long-stemmed variety of _C. nodosa_. My form has the following dimensions: Cup 75; cup stalk 38; animal stalk 14.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 64.--_Cothurnia nodosa_.]

KEY TO FAMILIES OF SUCTORIA.

a. Unattached forms; ventral cilia _Hypocomidae_ present; one suctorial tentacle

b. Attached forms; thecate and _Urnulidae_ athecate tentacles simple, one or two in number

c. Thecate; posterior end of cup _Metacinetidae_ drawn out into stalk; walls perforated for exit of tentacles

d. Stalked or unstalked; globular; _Podophryidae_ tentacles of different kinds, some (2 genera *_Ephelota_, k.n.o.bbed, others pointed *_Podophrya_)

e. Naked or thecate; stalked or not; _Acinetidae_ tentacles numerous, usually k.n.o.bbed and all alike

f. Naked; athecate; tentacles _Dendrosomidae_ numerous, all alike, k.n.o.bbed and grouped in tufts. They may be simple or branched.

g. Sessile forms resting on basal _Dendrocometidae_ surface or on a portion raised like a stalk; tentacles many; short and k.n.o.bbed; distributed on apical surface or localized on branched arms

h. Stalked or sessile; tentacles _Ophryodendridae_ long, rarely k.n.o.bbed, supported on proboscis-like processes

* Presence at Woods Hole indicated by asterisk.

Genus PODOPHRYA Ehr. '33.

(Butschli '88; Stein '59; Perty '52; Cienkowsky '55; Quenn. '69; Hertwig '77; Maupas '81.)

The body is globular, with tentacles radiating in all directions. The tentacles may be very short or very long. The stalk also is either short or long, and some species form stalks but rarely (_P. libera_).