Trachelocercidae Explained

Trachelocercidae is a family of ciliates in the class Karyorelictea.

Systematics

Trachelocercidae is the largest family within the Karyorelictea with about 70 nominal species so far described.^[1]

Description

Trachelocercids usually have an elongated body, which may be divided into head, neck, trunk and tail regions, an apical oral cavity, and most have several macronuclei and micronuclei arranged in nuclear groups^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Notes and References

1. Ma, Mingzhen. Xu, Yuan. Yan, Ying. Li, Yuqing. Warren, Alan. Song, Weibo. Taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of four karyorelictid species belonging to the genera Apotrachelocerca and Tracheloraphis (Protozoa: Ciliophora), with descriptions of two new species. 2021. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 192. 3. 690–709. 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa109.
2. Foissner, W.. Al-Rasheid, K. A. S.. 1999. Updating the trachelocercids (Ciliophora, Karyorelictea). VI. A detailed description of Sultanophrys arabica nov. gen., nov. spec. (Sultanophryideae nov. fam.). European Journal of Protistology. 35. 2. 146–160 . 10.1016/S0932-4739(99)80032-7.
3. Foissner, W.. Al-Rasheid, K.A.S.. 1999. Ontogenesis in a trachelocercid ciliate (Ciliophora, Karyorelictea), Sultanophrys arabica, with an account of evolution at the base of the ciliate tree. Acta Protozoologica. 38. 273–290 .
4. Yan, Y.. Xu, Y.. Al-Farraj, S.A.. Al-Rasheid, K. A. S. Song, W.. 2016. Morphology and phylogeny of three trachelocercids (Protozoa, Ciliophora, Karyorelictea), with description of two new species and insight into the evolution of the family Trachelocercidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 177. 2 . 306–319 . 10.1111/zoj.12364. free.