The Characteristics of the Environment of Sommerstorffia Spinosa (Oomycetes: Saprolegniales), A Parasite of Certain Rotifers

SUMMARY

In the River Turoslanka in northeastern Poland, Sommerstorffia spinosa was parasitic on the rotifer Lepadella elliptica, a new host for the fungus. The vegetative thalli were composed of poorly branched hyphae 6–8 μm in diam and about 80–200 μm in length, ending in tentaclelike tips. In addition to descriptions of hydrologic and hydrochemical characteristics of the river, the genera of phytoplankton whose species are dominant at the site, the macrophytes, and the dominant species of zooplankton are noted.