User talk:Algae17

Image posted to Stylonychia page
Welcome to Wikipedia! Thanks for contributing an image to the Stylonychia page. However, I think the identification of the ciliate is questionable. It is clearly in the family Oxytrichidae, but is likely not in genus Stylonychia. The cell has a group of closely-spaced caudal cirri, but they are only slightly longer than the marginal cirri. It is not possible to tell from this image whether the cell is rigid (as in the subfamily Sylonychinae) or flexible (Oxytrichinae). If the latter, this could be an ovoid Oxytricha species, such as O. kahlovata. If the former, it could be Tetmemena, a genus comprising several species previously included in Stylonychia.  Deuterostome  (Talk) 13:39, 20 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the info! The cells appeared to be somewhat flexible, so they are probably in Oxytrichinae. In the live specimens, the caudal cirri are twice as long as the marginal cirri. Algae17 (talk) 17:54, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * In that case, it is probably a species of Oxytricha. Flexible oxytrichids with long caudal cirri were previously placed in the genus Opisthotricha Kent, 1881. However, that genus is now considered a subjective synonym of Oxytricha (caudal cirri remain useful for differentiating at species level, but are not considered a generic character).  Deuterostome  (Talk) 18:22, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Excellent! I will go about renaming the image. Thanks again. Algae17 (talk) 05:59, 21 January 2023 (UTC)