Paramecium duboscqui Chatton, Brachon, 1933. Distribution, ecology and taxonomy

• Main Authors: FOKIN, SERGEY, Stoeck, T., Schmidt, H.
• Other Authors: Fokin, Sergey
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11568/256863

Paramecium duboscqui previously has been considered a rare or even nonvalid species. During 15 years we found it in fresh, brackfish and seawaters at different localities for Far East to the eastern coastline of the USA and from the Barentz coastline to Mediterranean. It is a euryhaline species with very distinct and uniform cell morphology. According to several traits, e.g. the structure of contractile vacuoles and the way of macronuclear reorganization, P. duboscqui should be considered as a more positive species among the brackfishwater paramecia. It has a preference for lower water temperature and is most frequently found during spring and autumn but such seasonal pattern was observed in the arctic area: White and Barentz sea shores. RAPD-PCR fingerprinting revealed three significantly different DNA patterns for the investigated P. duboscqui strains. Consequently P. duboscqui could be considered as a sibling species complex as it is known in P. aurelia.