Morphology and Molecular Phylogeny of Two New Trachelophyllid Ciliates, gen. nov., sp. nov. and sp. nov. (Litostomatea, Haptoria), From South Korea.

The morphology and molecular phylogeny of two new ciliates, gen. nov., sp. nov. and sp. nov., discovered in South Korea, were investigated. The two species belong to the suborder Trachelophyllina, which is characterized by the presence of a mucilaginous layer containing lepidosomes covering the cortex. gen. nov., sp. nov. is characterized by the presence of a single layer of type II lepidosomes, representing a new genus. sp. nov. has only type I lepidosomes covering the cortex, a generic character of the genus , and is distinguished from other congeners by a combination of morphological features, including the 15-24 μm long rod-shaped extrusomes, the 9-13 ciliary rows, the 7-11 and 17-25 dikinetids in brush rows 1 and 2, respectively, and the bipolar brush row 3. Furthermore, the 18S rRNA gene sequences of the two new species were provided. The phylogenetic analyses show that the sequence of gen. nov., sp. nov. clusters with two other trachelophyllid sequences, and the sequence of sp. nov. is placed at the base of these three sequences with full support. Furthermore, the four trachelophyllid sequences that are available so far form a monophyletic clade.