Description of Gastronauta membranaceus
provided by BioPedia
Hypostome ciliate, 50 - 70 x 26 - 32 microns long. Outline almost ellipsoid, left side a bit less convex than the right. Very flattened, ventral side slightly bowl shaped. A seam exists surrounds the dorsal hump. The dorsal hump contains an opaque structure between the front and the macronucleus. Macronucleus ellipsoid, in the middle of which is a cavity that houses the micronucleus such that it lies about in the middle of the cell under the mouth. 2 contractile vacuoles, the front one a bit right of the middle, underneath the mouth, the back one a bit bigger, left of the middle in the last quarter of the body. On the back half of the ventral side there is a field with about 6 rows of cilia on the left and 9 rows on the right. 3-4 anterior rows extend around the mouth and run parallel towards the back. Between these and the mouth there are about 5 further rows of cilia. Further back, the kineties run in flatter curves. There are 3 short, vertical rows of cilia over the right edge of the mouth. Dorsally there are 2 short peripheral rows of cilia, one a bit in front of the middle, the other in front of the left end of the row of cilia around the circumference (the outer row of cilia). The mouth is a diagonal slit slightly anterior to the middle but extending almost completely across the cell. The outer row of cilia is a bit elliptical, their short cilia forming a lamella-like structure that can lie over the opening of the mouth.
