| Zoothamnium | |
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| Zoothamnium niveum | |
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| Genus: | Zoothamnium |
| Zoothamnium | |
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| Zoothamnium niveum | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | Zoothamnium |
Zoothamnium was initially classified as a member of the family Vorticellidae by Ehrenberg in 1838. [1] It was later reclassified to the family Zoothaminiidae , a new family defined by Sommer, in 1951. [1] The unique ability of the central stalk to contract in a zig-zag pattern made the reclassification a necessity. [1] Zoothamnium is a sessile peritrich, meaning it is a ciliated vase shaped protozoan that is nonmotile in nature. The genus comprises more than seventy species. Differentiation between species can often be difficult due to the strong similarities in form and function. [2] The most commonly cited species are as follows: [3]
The species can be readily found in freshwater, brackish and/or marine waters between 5 °C and 25 °C, [4] typically 0 – 8 meters deep. [5] They thrive in areas of high suspended solids as they are detritus and anaerobic bacteria consumers. [6] They can be primarily found in eutrophic waters and along the coastal regions bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. [5] They typically form a symbiotic relationship with a wide variety of animals, although some may be free living attaching to aquatic plants and inanimate substrates. [1] Any solid substrate can provide a base for growth. [5] Copepods with chitin covering are the main animal group affected. [4] The ciliate may attach to the gills and reduce ability to pass oxygen to body tissues. This may result in hypoxia due to mechanical blockage and failure to thrive. This attachment may cause black gill disease. [7] or Surface Fouling Diseases. [8] Zoothamnium has the potential to reduce reproductive abilities of the host with high prevalence. [9] No histological damage occurs due to attachment, [9] but if colonization becomes too great the host animal may die. [8]
Ciliates that form branching colonies. The colonies can range in size from several zooids to hundreds of zooids depending on the species. [1] Bodies take on a conical to almost spherical shape and are attached posterior with a stalk to the main stalk. The stalk allows for multiple ciliates to come into contact with a feed source once detected, or move away from a potential hazard as needed. The anterior end of the ciliates is covered in circular rows of cilia known as the somatic girdle. [1] The main stalk that connects all of the ciliates branches is composed of a contractile spasmoneme, allowing stalk to contact as a single functioning unit. [1] When contracting the colony can reduce its size by folding in as a single unit in a zig zag fashion. [1] The protozoa can display polymorphism, or multiple physical forms of the same cell. Those on the stalks are shaped like rods, but those in the region of the ciliated oral apparatus of the zooids are shaped like small spheres. [6]
Three different forms of the individual ciliate cells are present at the ends of the stalk, which are distinct in both morphology and function:
Initial colonization is established by swarmer cells. Once a somatic girdle or circular rows of cilia are developed, a mature macrozooid can leave the mother colony as a swarmer. [1] Once a suitable substrate is found, an initial segment of stalk is produced to attach the cell to the new colonization point. [1]
Once settled, the colony begins to develop. All reproduction is accomplished by binary fusion. [2] The terminal zooid cells will elongate and divide. The newly formed cell will attach to the same branch of the stalk as the terminal zooid and will mature into a microzooid. [1]
The colony will continue to grow, adding additional branching as needed. As the colony develops and resources become depleted, stressed cells can form cilia on all surfaces, including a basal wreath of cilia, mature into macrozooids, and will detach from the stalk and swim away. [10] Colonies may become large, as the macrozooids may not have to travel far to find additional substrate. [2]
The initial colony will eventually enter into a senescent phase, where it will slow or even stop its biological functions of replication and release of swarmer cells. At this point microzooids will begin to die from the bottom of the stalk progressing to the top. A variety of bacteria will establish on the remaining stalk and decompose the materials. [1]
Bryozoa are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about 0.5 millimetres long, they have a special feeding structure called a lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles used for filter feeding. Most marine bryozoans live in tropical waters, but a few are found in oceanic trenches and polar waters. The bryozoans are classified as the marine bryozoans (Stenolaemata), freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata), and mostly-marine bryozoans (Gymnolaemata), a few members of which prefer brackish water. 5,869 living species are known. At least two genera are solitary ; the rest are colonial.
The peritrichs are a large and distinctive group of ciliates.
Entoprocta, or Kamptozoa, is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from 0.1 to 7 millimetres long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth, and both the mouth and anus lie inside the "crown". The superficially similar Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) have the anus outside a "crown" of hollow tentacles. Most families of entoprocts are colonial, and all but 2 of the 150 species are marine. A few solitary species can move slowly.
Blepharisma is a genus of unicellular ciliate protists found in fresh and salt water. The group includes about 40 accepted species, and many sub-varieties and strains. While species vary considerably in size and shape, most are easily identified by their red or pinkish color, which is caused by granules of the pigment blepharismin.
Stylonychia is a genus of ciliates, in the subclass Hypotrichia. Species of Stylonychia are very common in fresh water and soil, and may be found on filamentous algae, surface films, and among particles of sediment. Like other Hypotrichs, Stylonychia has cilia grouped into membranelles alongside the mouth and cirri over the body. It is distinguished partly by long cirri at the posterior, usually a cluster of three. The largest can just be seen at a 25x magnification, and the smallest can just be seen at a 450x magnification.
Stentor, sometimes called trumpet animalcules, are a genus of filter-feeding, heterotrophic ciliates, representative of the heterotrichs. They are usually horn-shaped, and reach lengths of two millimeters; as such, they are among the largest known extant unicellular organisms. They reproduce asexually through binary fission.
Vorticella is a genus of bell-shaped ciliates that have stalks to attach themselves to substrates. The stalks have contractile myonemes, allowing them to pull the cell body against substrates. The formation of the stalk happens after the free-swimming stage.
Paramecium caudatum is a species of unicellular protist in the phylum Ciliophora. They can reach 0.33 mm in length and are covered with minute hair-like organelles called cilia. The cilia are used in locomotion and feeding. The species is very common, and widespread in marine, brackish and freshwater environments.
Trichodina is a genus of ciliate alveolates that is ectocommensal or parasitic on aquatic animals, particularly fish. They are characterised by the presence of a ring of interlocking cytoskeletal denticles, which provide support for the cell and allow for adhesion to surfaces including fish tissue.
The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a different undulating pattern than flagella. Cilia occur in all members of the group and are variously used in swimming, crawling, attachment, feeding, and sensation.
Halofolliculina corallasia is a species of heterotrich ciliates identified as a cause of the syndrome called skeletal eroding band (SEB). It is the first coral disease pathogen that is a protozoan as well as the first known to be a eukaryote; all others identified are bacteria. Like other members of the folliculinid family, H. corallasia is sessile and lives in a "house" called a lorica, into which the cell can retreat when disturbed. The mouth is flanked by a pair of wing-like projections that are fringed with polykinetids, groups of cilia that work in groups to produce a current that draws food into the "mouth".
Climacostomum is a genus of unicellular ciliates, belonging to the class Heterotrichea.
Mobilida is a group of parasitic or symbiotic peritrich ciliates, comprising more than 280 species. Mobilids live on or within a wide variety of aquatic organisms, including fish, amphibians, molluscs, cnidarians, flatworms and other ciliates, attaching to their host organism by means of an aboral adhesive disk. Some mobilid species are pathogens of wild or farmed fish, causing severe and economically damaging diseases such as trichodinosis.
Condylostoma is a genus of unicellular ciliate protists, belonging to the class Heterotrichea.
Cothurnia is a genus of freshwater and marine peritrichs in the family Vaginicolidae. It is characterised by living in a transparent tubular lorica. During the feeding or vegetative phase of its life cycle, Cothurnia attaches to submerged surfaces through a short stalk — mostly on the surfaces of fishes, crustaceans and aquatic plants. It is commonly studied for its epibiotic relationship with the host that it is attached to.
Zoothamnium niveum is a species of ciliate protozoan which forms feather-shaped colonies in marine coastal environments. The ciliates form a symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing chemosynthetic bacteria of the species "Candidatus Thiobios zoothamnicoli", which live on the surface of the colonies and give them their unusual white color.
The Folliculinidae are a family of ciliates in the class Heterotrichea, with the common name "bottle-animalcule".
Miamiensis avidus is a species of unicellular marine eukaryote that is a parasite of many different types of fish. It is one of several organisms known to cause the fish disease scuticociliatosis and is considered an economically significant pathogen of farmed fish. M. avidus is believed to be the cause of a 2017 die-off of fish and sharks in the San Francisco Bay.
Stentor roeselii is a free-living ciliate species of the genus Stentor, in the class Heterotrichea. It is a common and widespread protozoan, found throughout the world in freshwater ponds, lakes, rivers and ditches.
Halteria, sometimes referred to as the jumping oligotrich, is a genus of common planktonic ciliates that are found in many freshwater environments. Halteria are easy to locate due to their abundance and distinctive behaviour with observations of Halteria potentially dating back to the 17th century and the discovery of microorganisms. Over time more has been established about their morphology and behavior, which has led to many changes in terms of classification.
| Authority control databases: National |
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