Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles
Published on: July 11, 2025
Redescription of Opalina triangulata (Heterokonta, Opalinea) from Fejervarya limnocharis based on morphological and
Run-Qiu Wang1, Wei-Shan Zhao1, Guang-Ran Hu1
1State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, and Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Disease Control, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
Opalinids are a large group of anaerobic protists, mainly inhabiting the cloacae of amphibians (frogs and toads). The classification of this group has not been fully resolved, because of a lack of molecular information. Here, we give a redescription of Opalina triangulata Metcalf, 1923, collected from the rectum of the frog Fejervarya limnocharis, based on detailed morphological and molecular data. Our phylogenetic analyses confirmed the monophyly of Opalinata. Within it, Opalinea were monophyletic with O. triangulata and O. undulata as well as two Protoopalina species grouping together. Karotomorpha and Proteromonas did not group together confirming the paraphyly of Proteromonadea. Meanwhile, the ITS2 secondary structural similarities as well as G-C content revealed greater similitudes between Opalina species and P. lacertae than with Blastocystis hominis, which is in accordance with their position as sister clades in the SSU rDNA-based phylogenies.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Phylogeny
The Fossil Record
Other Algae
Diversity of Protists III

