Cytoterminology of cortical components of ciliates: somatic and oral kinetids.

The terminology of cortical structures in ciliated protists is determined partly by the organizational perspective from which these organisms are viewed. A general descriptive terminology is to be preferred to a particular and specialized one since the latter approach will lead to inflation in the number of terms. For the components of the ciliate kinetid, postciliary (microtubular) ribbons, transverse (microtubular) ribbons, nematodesma and kinetodesmal fibril are preferred terms. One, two and more than two kinetosome kinetids are referred to as mono-, di- and polykinetids, whether in somatic or oral regions of the cortex. In the oral region, adoral, circumoral, and paroral are the preferred descriptive adjectives, modified by the name of the taxonomic category in which the structures are found.