Morphology and phylogeny of three karyorelictean ciliates (Protista, Ciliophora), including two novel species, Trachelocerca chinensis sp. n. and Tracheloraphis dragescoi sp. n

This paper investigates the morphology and infraciliature of three karyorelictean ciliates, Trachelocerca chinensis sp. n., Tracheloraphis dragescoi sp. n. and a rarely known form, Geleia acuta (Dragesco, 1960) Foissner, 1998, which were isolated from the intertidal zone of sandy beaches at Zhanjiang and Qingdao, China. Trachelocerca chinensis sp. n. is distinguished from related forms by having 26–30 somatic kineties, a narrow glabrous stripe and a single nuclear group composed of approximately four to six macronuclei and two micronuclei. Tracheloraphis dragescoi sp. n. can be recognized through its 14–22 somatic kineties, wide glabrous stripe and a single nuclear group composed of about four macronuclei. Phylogenetic analyses based on small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences indicated that the genera Trachelocerca and Tracheloraphis are closely related but that neither of them appears to be a clearly monophyletic group. Nonetheless, the monophyly of Trachelocerca is not rejected by the approximately unbiased (AU) test (P = 0.143, >0.05), although that of Tracheloraphis is rejected (P = 0.011, <0.05). Geleia acuta, meanwhile, branched with Geleia fossata and falls in the Geleia clade.