Euplotes is a genus ofciliates in the subclass Euplotia. Species are widely distributed in marine and freshwater environments, as well as soil and moss. Most members of the genus are free-living, but two species have been recorded ascommensal organisms in the digestive tracts ofsea urchins.[1][2]
Euplotes cells are inflexible,dorsoventrally flattened, and roughly ovoid, with a very large oral region (peristome) bordered on the left by a long "adoral zone ofmembranelles" (AZM). Like otherspirotrich ciliates,Euplotes move and feed with the help of compound ciliaryorganelles called "cirri," made up of thick tufts ofcilia sparsely distributed on the cell. Strong cirri on theventral surface of the cell enableEuplotes to walk or crawl on submerged detritus and vegetation. All species ofEuplotes have a group of stiff bristles (caudal cirri), which protrude from the posterior of the cell. The number of caudal cirri varies, even within a species, but it is most common forEuplotes to have 4 or 5.[3] Themacronucleus is typically long and narrow, and approximately horseshoe-shaped, C-shaped, or resembling the number 3.[4][5]
Species ofEuplotes were first recorded in 1773 by the Danish naturalistO.F. Müller, who placed them in the genusTrichoda.[6] In 1830,German microscopistC.G. Ehrenberg created the genusEuplotes.[7] By 1975, over 80 species and varieties had been described and assigned toEuplotes.[3]
In older classification schemes,Euplotes is usually placed amonghypotrichs, either in the order Hypotrichida, the subclass Hypotrichia or the class Hypotrichea.[1] In current classification,Euplotes is placed apart from the other traditional hypotrichs, in the subclass Euplotia.[8][9]
^Caspers, H. (1962). "Corliss, John O.: The Ciliated Protozoa: Characterization, Classification, and Guide to the Literature. With 22pl. Oxford–London–New York–Paris: Pergamon Press Ltd. 1961.310p. Intern. Series of Monographs on Pure and Applied Biology, Div. Zoology, Vol. 7. 80 – s".Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie.47 (3): 172.doi:10.1002/iroh.19620470319.ISSN1522-2632.
^abCurds, Colin R. (1975). "A guide to the species of the genus Euplotes (Hypotrichida, Ciliata)".Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Zool.28: 3.
^Carey, Philip G. (1992).Marine Interstitial Ciliates. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 203.ISBN0-412406101.
^Curds, Colin R. (1983).British and Other Freshwater Ciliated Protozoa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 450.
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