Protozoan ciliate epibionts on the freshwater shrimp Caridina (Crustacea, Decapoda, Atyidae) from the Malili lake system on Sulawesi (Indonesia)

Protozoan ciliate epibionts on the freshwater shrimp Caridina (Decapoda, Atyidae), in particular from the ancient Malili lake system on Sulawesi (Indonesia), were studied. These ciliates belong to the following genera: the suctorian Acineta, and the peritrichs Thuricola, Cothurnia, Vorticella, Opercularia, and Zoothamnium. The ciliates were located on diverse areas of the surface and appendages of the shrimp. Morphological and taxonomical data of these ciliates are described, as well as the general distribution of each species on the basibiont. This is the first time that these ciliate epibiont species have been described on shrimps of the genus Caridina, where formerly only a suctorian of the genus Spelaeophrya has been found as an epibiont. Special features of the epibiont species in comparison with the species previously described are indicated.