The Cost for Biodiversity: Records of Ciliate–Nematode Epibiosis with the Description of Three New Suctorian Species
Elisa Baldrighi,
Igor Dovgal,
Daniela Zeppilli,
Alie Abibulaeva,
Claire Michelet,
Emma Michaud,
Annalisa Franzo,
Eleonora Grassi,
Lucia Cesaroni,
Loretta Guidi,
Maria Balsamo,
Roberto Sandulli,
Federica Semprucci
Affiliations
Elisa Baldrighi
Institute for Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies (IRBIM), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Pola 4, 71010 Lesina, Italy
Igor Dovgal
A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, 299011 Sevastopol, Russia
Daniela Zeppilli
IFREMER, Centre Brest, REM/EEP/LEP, ZI de la pointe du diable, CS10070, F-29280 Plouzané, France
Alie Abibulaeva
A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, 299011 Sevastopol, Russia
Claire Michelet
LEMAR, Université Brest, CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, F-29280 Plouzane, France
Emma Michaud
LEMAR, Université Brest, CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, F-29280 Plouzane, France
Annalisa Franzo
Oceanography Section, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, OGS I-34151 Trieste, Italy
Eleonora Grassi
Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), University of Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Lucia Cesaroni
Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), University of Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Loretta Guidi
Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), University of Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Maria Balsamo
Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), University of Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Roberto Sandulli
Department of Science and Technology (DiST), Parthenope University Naples, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), 00196 Rome, Italy
Federica Semprucci
Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), University of Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Epibiosis is a common phenomenon in marine systems. In marine environments, ciliates are among the most common organisms adopting an epibiotic habitus and nematodes have been frequently reported as their basibionts. In the present study, we report several new records of peritrich and suctorian ciliates-nematode association worldwide: from a deep-sea pockmark field in the NW Madagascar margin (Indian Ocean), from a shallow vent area in the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian Sea), in a MPA area in the Gulf of Trieste (Mediterranean, Adriatic Sea), from a mangrove system in French Guiana (South America, Atlantic Ocean), and from the Maldivian Archipelago. In addition, three new species of Suctorea from the Secca delle Fumose shallow vent area (Gulf of Naples) were described: Loricophrya susannae n. sp., Thecacineta fumosae n. sp. and Acinetopsis lynni n. sp. In the light of these new records and data from the existing literature, we discuss the suctorian–nematode epibiosis relationship as a lever to biodiversity.
