2026/05/11 by Jesús Ángel de León‐González, Rosaura Mayén-Estrada, Luis Fernando Carrera-Parra +2 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Marine Ecology and Invasive Species #Protist diversity and phylogeny
paper · pdf · doi:10.3897/bdj.14.e190347
openalex publication_date 2026/05/11 · openalex created_date 2026/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Epibiosis between ciliates and feather duster worms (Sabellidae) remains poorly known and has been documented in only four species, belonging to the genera Eudistylia , Laonome , Schizobanchia and Sabella . Licnophora is a genus of ciliates whose species live as epibionts on freshwater or marine organisms, involving algae, macrophytes and a wide range of marine animals from different phyla, including amongst them polychaete worms. The tubiculous polychaete Bispira melanostigma is here reported for the first time as a component of fouling communities on a dock piling in the southern Gulf of Mexico, extending its known ecological occurrence beyond corals reefs, sand and seagrasses beds of the Caribbean Sea. In addition, ciliated epibionts attached to the radioles are reported and identified as Licnophora chattoni , constituting the first documented epibiotic association between this licnophorid ciliate and a sabellid fan worm.