Morphological characterization of two new species of Dicontophrya (Ciliophora: Astomatia: Contophryidae) commensal of earthworms (Oligochaeta: Annelida) of ebebda and nkolbikogo (Cameroon)

Article

Two new species of astomatous ciliates (Dicontophrya minus n. sp. and Dicontophrya ebebdaensis n. sp.)endocommensal of Glossoscolecidae earthworms pertaining to the genus Alma are described using lightmicroscopyand a combination of staining techniques (pyridinated ammoniacal siver nitrate and DAPI). Studiesreveal the existence of two distinct morphological types as evidence of morphological diversification within thegenus Dicontophrya de Puytorac and Dragesco, 1969. In the first morphological type represented byDicontophrya minus n. sp., the cell is ovoid (90 x 125 – 35 x 115 µm) with a ribbon like axial macronucleusflanked with a relatively big micronucleus (6.2 µm in diameter). In the second morphological type(Dicontophrya ebebdaensis n. sp.), the cell is elongated and wormlike (180 x 215 – 35 x 50 µm) with a nuclearapparatus composed of a long ribbon shape macronucleus (171.1 µm), bearing in its posterior half a globulousmicronucleus. In the two cases cells bear in the anterior end a depression in which lodges a skeletal apparatusbuild in the same plan of organization (a modified V shaped skeletal branch bearing about 7 skeletal fibers) thatcharacterize the genus