Two new marine pleurostomatid ciliates from China, Amphileptus gui nov. spec. and Amphileptus yuianus nov. spec. (Ciliophora, Pleurostomatida)

The morphology and infraciliature of two pleurostomatid ciliates, Amphileptus gui nov. spec. and A. yuianus nov. spec., collected from mariculture ponds near Qingdao (Tsingtao), China, were investigated using living observations and the protargol impregnation method. These new species are distinguished from their congeners by a combination of characters including their marine habitat and the presence of an apical group of densely packed extrusomes. Amphileptus gui nov. spec. differs from A. yuianus nov. spec. mainly in the number of contractile vacuoles (3-7 vs. 1), the shape of extrusomes (thin bar-like vs. clavate), and the number of left and right somatic kineties (7-11 and 37-50 vs. 4 and 18-22).