A barotolerant ciliate isolated from the abyssal deep sea of the North Atlantic: Euplotes dominicanus sp. n. (Ciliophora, Euplotia).

A new Euplotes species, isolated from abyssal depths (>4000 m) of the North Atlantic Ocean, was described based on morphology, ciliary pattern and molecular data. Euplotes dominicanus sp. n. is characterized by a small body size (29-40 × 17-27 µm in vivo), 18-22 adoral membranelles, 10 frontoventral, five transverse and two left marginal cirri and one caudal cirrus, five or six dorsolateral kineties with 7-9 dikinetids in mid-dorsolateral kinety (DK3), and dorsal silverline system of the double-eurystomus type. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from 18S rRNA sequences show that Euplotes dominicanus sp. n. is most closely related to E. curdsi, with a sequence similarity of 97.6 %. Euplotes dominicanus sp. n. was able to survive hydrostatic pressures up to 500 bar indicating its barotolerance. Metabarcoding data demonstrate the presence of E. dominicanus sp. n. in sediments of several deep-sea basins.

New phagotrophic euglenids from deep sea and surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean (Keelungia nitschei, Petalomonas acorensis, Ploeotia costaversata).

New phagotrophic euglenoid species from marine surface waters and the deep sea were isolated and described by light and scanning electron microscopy and 18S rDNA sequencing: Keelungia nitschei, Petalomonas acorensis and Ploeotia costaversata. The morphological characteristics of Keelungia nitschei agree with Keelungia pulex besides the slightly truncated anterior front of the cell of our strain. Phylogenetic analysis indicated low sequence similarity between K. nitschei and K. pulex (87.3%). Ploeotia costaversata clustered within the Ploeotia costata clade with a sequence similarity of 96.1% to P. costata strain Tam. Ultrastructural characteristics of our strain revealed helically twisted strips towards both poles of the protoplast. 18S rDNA phylogenies showed that Petalomonas acorensis is related to the clade of Petalomonas cantuscygni/Scytomonas saepesedens with the highest sequence similarity of 81.2% to P. cantuscygni. Six pellicle strips are visible, while two of them reach only the middle of the cell and four (two longitudinal, two helically twisted) join at the posterior front of the cell. Pressure experiments showed that the deep-sea strain K. nitschei was better adapted to high hydrostatic pressures (up to 500 bar) at 4 °C than the two surface water strains. All three strains increased the database (18S rDNA) of the underrepresented group of phagotrophic euglenids.