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Paramecium (Ciliophora) is an ideal model organism to study the biogeography of protists. However, many regions of the world, such as Central America, are still neglected in understanding Paramecium diversity. We combined morphological and molecular approaches to identify paramecia isolated from more than 130 samples collected from different waterbodies in several states of Mexico. We found representatives of six Paramecium morphospecies, including the rare species Paramecium jenningsi, and Paramecium putrinum, which is the first report of this species in tropical regions. We also retrieved five species of the Paramecium aurelia complex, and describe one new member of the complex, Paramecium quindecaurelia n. sp., which appears to be a sister species of Paramecium biaurelia. We discuss criteria currently applied for differentiating between sibling species in Paramecium. Additionally, we detected diverse bacterial symbionts in some of the collected ciliates.
Original languageEnglish
Article number197
JournalDiversity
Volume12
Issue number5
Early online date15 May 2020
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • biogeography, ciliates, Paramecium quindecaurelia, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI ), sibling species, species concept in protists, Bacterial symbionts, Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I gene, Species concept in protists, Sibling species, Biogeography, Ciliates

    Scopus subject areas

  • Animal Science and Zoology
  • Ecological Modelling
  • Nature and Landscape Conservation
  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Ecology

ID: 53522913