Université Pierre et Marie Curie and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7093, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, Marine Microbial Ecology, Station Zoologique, B.P. 28, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.
P.O.Box 132, North Attleboro, MA 02761-0132, USA.
Protist. 2014 Jan;165(1):66-80. doi: 10.1016/j.protis.2013.11.002. Epub 2013 Dec 7.
Tintinnid species are traditionally distinguished via lorica features. Recently, sequencing has revealed polymorphism, i.e., genetically identical individuals with distinct lorica morphologies. One such polymorphic species is Cyttarocylis ampulla; individuals can display lorica morphologies of formally different species of Cyttarocylis and Petalotricha, well-represented in the literature. We compiled and analysed a global database of species records to determine if there is a main form and if different morphotypes have distinct temporal or spatial distributions. The two genera show very similar widespread distributions but with some statistical evidence of spatial segregation. Examining co-occurrence among the common 'species' we found most were rarely found alone, only 6-14% of the records for all species except for 2 forms: C. eucecryphalus and P. ampulla reported alone in 34% and 43%, respectively, of their records. We identify them as the main forms and analysed data of global distributions, spatial distribution across the Mediterranean in summer and winter and temporal distributions from a site in the Adriatic. The two main forms show frequent co-occurrence, similar lack of strong seasonality and widespread geographic distributions. We tentatively conclude that the different lorica morphologies may only reflect conditions of high temporally variability such as quantities and composition of prey. Directions for further research are suggested.
纤毛虫种传统上通过壳的特征来区分。最近,测序揭示了多态性,即具有不同壳形态的遗传上相同的个体。这样的多态性物种之一是 C. ampulla;个体可以表现出正式不同的 C. ampulla 和 Petalotricha 物种的壳形态,这些在文献中都有很好的描述。我们编译并分析了一个全球物种记录数据库,以确定是否存在主要形态,以及不同形态是否具有不同的时间或空间分布。这两个属表现出非常相似的广泛分布,但具有一些空间隔离的统计证据。在研究常见“物种”的共存时,我们发现大多数物种很少单独出现,除了两种形态外,所有物种的记录中只有 6-14%:C. eucecryphalus 和 P. ampulla 分别在其记录的 34%和 43%中单独出现。我们将它们确定为主要形态,并分析了全球分布、夏季和冬季地中海的空间分布以及亚得里亚海一个地点的时间分布的数据。这两种主要形态经常共存,季节性不强,地理分布广泛。我们初步得出结论,不同的壳形态可能仅反映了时间变化较大的情况,例如猎物的数量和组成。提出了进一步研究的方向。