On Keelungia pulex nov. gen. et nov. sp., a heterotrophic euglenoid flagellate that lacks pellicular plates (Euglenophyceae, Euglenida)

Keelungia pulex nov. gen. et nov. sp. is described from coastal waters of NE Taiwan. The new species is heterotrophic and feeds on bacteria. Cells are oblong-ovoid, biflagellate and glide along the sides of the flask. Each cell is approximately 8–11 μm long, and one of the smallest euglenoid flagellates presently known. Keelungia lacks pellicular plates and in this respect resembles diplonemids and Symbiontida, which are thought to be among the basal groups of Euglenozoa. SEM showed the presence of 10 evenly spaced longitudinal striae in the cell surface, but the striae are difficult to see in the light microscope. TEM showed each stria to comprise a double set of very low longitudinal ridges separated by a shallow furrow, and supported by ca 5 microtubules beneath the plasmalemma, unlike the situation in diplonemids and Symbiontida. The cell surface was further subtended by an extensive system of rough cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum. Keelungia pulex is phylogenetically related to species of Ploeotia and to Lentomonas applanata, but differs in details of the feeding apparatus and in the absence of pellicular plates. Sequencing of SSU rDNA indicates that Ploeotia, Keelungia and Entosiphon form a clade near the base of the euglenoid phylogenetic tree.