Infestation of a lagoon zooplanktonic community with the epizoic peritrich Zoothamnium intermedium Precht (Peritrichia, Zoothamniidae)

Abstract

An epizoic colonial peritrich, Zoothamnium intermedium Precht, collected from the lagoon Valle Fossa di Porto (Ferrara, Italy), is described on the basis of light and scanning electron microscope observations. It was found on the copepods Acartia clausi, A. latist‐tosa, Calanipeda aquaedulcis and zoeae of the shrimp Hippolyte longiros‐tris. In A. clausi, which was the most abundant species of the Zooplankton community, Z. intermedium was distributed over the whole body surface of 99.3% of specimens. Numerous rod‐shaped bacteria were found in association with the attachment sites of Z. intermedium.

Key words:

• Epizoic peritrichs
• Zootbamnium intermedium
• Host‐symbiont relationships