Five New Species of Lagenophrys (Ciliophora, Peritricha, Lagenophryidae) from the United States with Observations on Their Developmental Stages1

Five species of the loricate genus Lagenophrys were found on freshwater hosts and are described for the first time. Lagenophrys dennisi n. sp., L. incompta n. sp., and L. oregonensis n. sp. are ectosymbionts of astacid crayfish. Lagenophrys foxi n. sp and L. missouriensis n. sp. are ectosymbionts of gammarid amphipods. All five species appear to occur only m North America. Protargol preparations of the five species reveal that the peristomial myoneme is much broader and more extensive in telotrochs and metamorphosing individuals than in adults. Darkly staining bands appearing to be somatic myonemes were also seen underneath the surface of the body and in the center of the body of telotrochs and metamorphosing individuals. The telotroch of Lagenophrys is so different from the adult that it constitutes a true larval form rather than a simple dispersal stage. Structural parallels between the telotroch of Lagenophrys and mobiline peritrichs suggest the hypothesis that mobilines evolved from the telotroch of a sessiline pentrich which had first evolved into a true larval form.