Genus: Small, 15-60 μm long; with a caudal cilium;
on the right edge of peristome occurs a membrane which forms a pocket around cytostomal groove;
contractile vacuole posterior (Kudo, 1966).
Ovoid body with flattened anterior cap; long peristome with large, undulatory membrane, extended in feeding,
one long caudal cilium (How to know the protozoa, 1979).
No somatic cilia at the anterior apex; no cilia around the posterior where a single,
long caudal cilium usually merges; buccal ciliature proportionally smaller in comparison to
Pleuronema (Carey, 1992).
Species: |
50 μm
100 μm
150 μm; x 400 :
31 μm
63 μm
94 μm; x 640
Pleuronema sp., x 400, x 640, November 1998, by Y. Tsukii
* Cyclidium glaucoma Müller, 1786: Cell body ovoid with flattened anterior cap, 25-30 μm long; long peristome, with large undulating membrane; long cilia in rows; one long caudal cilium; moves by jumping or darting (How to know the protozoa, 1979). Cell body ovoid, 14-23 μm long, 6-12 μm wide; 10 longitudinal ciliary rows, each row with 10-20 cilia; peristome from apical end to mid-ventral with conspicuous undulating membrane (velum) at its right side; a macronucleus spherical, located anteriorly, with a single micronucleus (Gensei-Doubutu Zukan, 1981). Ovoid, 30 μm long; peristome 1/2 the body length; anterior with a small domed area; a single caudal cilium (Carey, 1992).
Cyclidium candens Kahl, 1928: Ovoid but elongate, 35-40 μm long; with longitudinal ridges in the pellicle; buccal apparatus 1/3 body length; a single very long caudal cilium (Carey, 1992).
Cyclidium citrullus (Cohn, 1866) Kahl, 1931: Ovoid, both anterior and posterior form small bump; 30 μm long; buccal ciliature 1/2 body length; a single caudal cilium; a spherical macronucleus; a contractile vacuole (Carey, 1992).