Ontogenesis of Dileptus terrenus and Pseudomonilicaryon brachyproboscis (Ciliophora, Haptoria)

Dileptids are haptorid ciliates with a conspicuous proboscis belonging to the oral apparatus and carrying a complex, unique ciliary pattern. We studied development of body shape, ciliary pattern, and nuclear apparatus during and after binary fission of Dileptus terrenus using protargol impregnation. Additional data were obtained from a related species, Pseudomonilicaryon brachyproboscis. Division is homothetogenic and occurs in freely motile condition. The macronucleus is homomeric and condenses to a globular mass in mid-dividers. The proboscis appears in late mid-dividers as a small convexity in the opisthe's dorsal brush area and maturates post-divisionally. The oral and dorsal brush structures develop by three rounds of basal body proliferation. The first round generates minute anarchic fields that will become circumoral kinetofragments, while the second round produces the perioral kinety on the right and the preoral kineties on the dorsal opisthe's side. The dorsal brush is formed later by a third round of basal body production. The formation of various Spathidium-like body shapes and ciliary patterns during ontogenesis and conjugation of Dileptus shows a close relationship between spathidiids and dileptids. On the other hand, the peculiarities of the dileptid morphology and ontogenesis indicate a long, independent evolution.