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Acta Protozoologica

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Volume 64

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Publication date: 2025

Description
Cover photo: Jamila Chaouite

Licence: CC BY licence icon

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief Krzysztof Wiąckowski

Co-editors Janusz Fyda, Małgorzata Prajer

Technical editor Jadwiga Makowiec

Issue content

John R. Dolan

Acta Protozoologica, Volume 64, 2025, pp. 1-10

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.25.001.21142
Per Theodor Cleve is known as a 19th century chemist, credited with discovery of two rare-earth elements. However, throughout his distinguished career as a chemist, he was also a protistologist. From 1863 to 1905, Cleve published prodigiously on protists, authoring over 70 works totaling about 2,500 pages, and he described numerous taxa, especially from the marine plankton. Notably, many of Cleve's works are still cited today. His work concerning the utility of certain protist species in characterizing water masses has been recognized in histories of Oceanography. However, Cleve is not a familiar name to many of us, as he has been consistently overlooked in histories of protistology. Here, first Cleve's life is summarized, and then his contributions to protistology, and oceanography, are reviewed to show his significant, and neglected, contributions to the fields.  
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Christian Elmarc Ocenar-Bautista, Ramon Carlo Balaoro-Banzuela, Nikki Heherson A. Dagamac, Akira T. Komoda

Acta Protozoologica, Volume 64, 2025, pp. 11-20

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.25.002.21670
Protosteloid amoebae are a group of fungus-like protists that play critical ecological roles in nutrient cycling nd microbial regulation within terrestrial ecosystems. Despite their ecological importance, their diversity and spatial distribution in Philippine landscapes remains understudied. Hence, this study randomly collected foliar litter on five timber upland forests and five coastal lowland forests to capture the range of microhabitats that may influence protosteloid diversity and investigate the spatial distribution of protosteloid amoebae across a ridge-to-reef ecosystem in San Fernando City, La Union, Philippines. Using established laboratory protocols and morphological examination, the following results were revealed: (i) eleven determinable species belonging to seven genera reflected a moderate sampling effort for the study, (ii) species diversity of protosteloid amoebae was higher in the upland than in the lowland but almost the same when microhabitats (aerial vs ground) were compared, and (iii) there were more similarities in composition in terms of substrates rather than el- evation. These findings suggest that the distribution between upland and coastal lowland habitats is affected by possible ecological gradients and habitat specificity playing a vital role in shaping protist communities. This study highlights the urgent need for management strategies to protect unique microhabitats along the Philippine ridge-to-reef ecosystems and preserve the region’s hidden microbial biodiversity.
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Christophe V.W. Seppey, Monika K. Reczuga, Bertrand Fournier, Enrique Lara, Guillaume Lentendu, Matthieu Mulot, David Singer, Ildikò Szelecz, Edward A. D. Mitchell

Acta Protozoologica, Volume 64, 2025, pp. 21-35

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.25.003.21935
Decomposing cadavers have a strong impact on the soil environment and the biodiversity of soil organisms. However, exploring these patterns in different natural settings, and beyond the first few weeks post-mortem remains a research priority. The response of soil communities to decomposing cadavers could be used for estimating the post-mortem interval (PMI), for which current models are lacking beyond 4–6 weeks.
We conducted a 35-month field experiment using pig carcasses (Sus scrofa Linnaeus) in a deciduous forest in Switzerland to characterise the impact of decomposing cadavers on the diversity and community composition of soil micro-eukaryotes by high throughput sequencing of soil environmental DNA.
The diversity of soil microbial eukaryotes strongly declined under decomposing cadavers. Several taxa which were rare in control soils became more abundant in cadaver-impacted soils. The clear temporal succession and turnover in soil microbial eukaryote diversity and community structure underneath cadavers offers potential for inferring the PMI.
The diversity of soil micro-eukaryotes remains poorly documented, especially in under-studied habitats such as cadaver-impacted soils. Characterising this “rare biosphere” diversity will help better understand cadaver impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and is necessary to develop new PMI tools.
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Bowen Zhang, Lifang Chen, Haiyang Guo, Ziyan Liu, Yuntong Guo, Tengyue Zhang, Fengchao Li, Helmut Berger

Acta Protozoologica, Volume 64, 2025, pp. 37-51

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.25.004.21983
The present study provides a detailed redescription of the very little-known oxytrichid ciliate, Cyrtohymena torrenticola, collected from Baiyangdian Lake in northern China. The morphology of the Chinese population agrees very well with the original description, including a slender, Urosoma-like body outline, a cyrtohymenid oral apparatus, and terminally arranged transverse cirri. In addition, our study shows that C. torrenticola has (i) six dorsal kineties and (ii) yellowish, about 1 µm-sized cortical granules. An improved diagnosis is provided. From four dividers we can conclude (i) that the oral primordium originates de novo, (ii) that all postoral ventral cirri are involved in primordia formation, (iii) that the anlagen V and VI of both proter and opisthe, very likely originate via primary primordia, and (iv) that the dorsal ciliature is formed in the Oxytricha pattern, that is, kinety 3 fragments to form kinety 4 and two dorsomarginal kineties originate from/near the right marginal row anlagen. A phylogeny using SSU rDNA sequence data basically supports the morphological classification in Cyrtohymena. Both the type locality and our record strongly indicate that C. torrenticola prefers limnetic habitats. Our population cannot be used for neotypification because it was collected far away from the type locality.
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Jamila Chaouite, Rachida Bengriche, Kacem Makroum

Acta Protozoologica, Volume 64, 2025, pp. 53-74

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.25.005.22231
Silicoflagellates are a poorly documented component of marine phytoplankton along the Moroccan Atlantic coast of North Africa Although rarely encountered in plankton samples, they can provide valuable insights into water column dynamics and upwelling regimes. This study aimed to characterize the taxonomic composition and morphological variability of silicoflagellates in two contrasting coastal environments influenced by seasonal upwelling: El Jadida Bay and Oualidia Lagoon. In El Jadida Bay, a relatively diverse assemblage was observed, including Dictyocha epiodon Ehrenberg, an unusual morphotype of Dictyocha cf. fibula, several morphotypes of Octactis pulchra Schiller, and Stephanocha speculum (Ehrenberg) McCartney and Jordan. In contrast, the lagoon assemblage was less diverse, with only three taxa recorded: Dictyocha fibula Ehrenberg, D. fibula var. robusta Schrader and Murray, and Stephanocha speculum, the only species shared between both habitats. In addition to morphological analysis, selected environmental variables were assessed, and chemical element data from Oualidia Lagoon (Chaouite et al. 2018) were reintegrated to contextualize species distribution and potential environmental stressors. Data analysis was performed with the R software (version 4.3.1), using packages from the tidyverse (including tidyr and ggplot2), cowplot, fmsb, and Venn diagram.
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Susobhan Mondal, Biplob Kr. Modak

Acta Protozoologica, Volume 64, 2025, pp. 75-84

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.25.006.22770
In the present study, a new species of septate gregarine, inhabiting Brachythemis contaminata Fabricius, 1793, a common drag-onfly species in West Bengal, India, was identified and characterised. Mature trophozoites are solitary and pyriform. The epimerite complex extends up to 112 µm in length and includes a terminal, hat-shaped epimerite proper with 8–12 distinct, very deeply ovoid to narrowly ovoid petals without pointed apices and an oblong diamerite. Gamonts are isogamontic and also pyriform (~230 × 167 µm), with a broadly obpanduriform protomerite and a pyriform deutomerite. Gametocysts are more or less orbicular (~345 µm). Under SEM, both trophozoites and gamonts are found to be covered by longitudinal, undulating epicytic folds, except epimerite proper. An orbicular, retracted area with a central, roughly orbicular region devoid of epicytic folds is present at the anterior end of the gamont, measuring 24.7–40.6 µm in diameter. Tetrahedral configuration of the oocysts is prominent, characterised by a smooth surface and terminal projections with an apical, sucker-like structure. The above characteristics align this septate gregarine with the genus Odonaticola. The distinctive morphological traits, including pyriform trophozoites and gamonts and an epimerite proper with 8–12 distinct, ovoid petals without pointed apices, support its erection as a new species, Odonaticola pyriforma n. sp.
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