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P.624 right column 2nd paragraph: "More recently, the discovery of Maristentor dinoferus constitutes an example of a ciliate that harbours Symbiodinium cells. The ciliate is attached to solid surfaces, such as the thallus of the macroalga Padina. It has been found in connection with coral reefs in Guam (Lobban et al. 2002). It looks very similar to Stentor, but sequenced rRNA–genes show that it is related to folliculinids and can be considered as a Folliculina species without test (Miao et al. 2005). The large cells harbour 500–800 Symbiodinium cells that belong to clade C–a genotype that also occurs in corals living in the habitat. In the same habitat, a hypotrich ciliate with endosymbionts, Euplotes uncinatus, was also described. Based on the fine structure of the symbionts, these are also dinoflagellates, but morphologically they deviate to some extent from those found in Maristentor: they appear to be in a healthy state and they contain photosynthetically active pigments (Lobban et al. 2005)." |