Temporal structure of the peritrich ciliate assemblage in a large Neotropical lake

Zoological Studies

Table 2 List of peritrich species sampled in Lake Guaíba (southern Brazil)

Species	Constancy of occurrence	Successional characteristic	Abundance peak (days)	Compound size (μm)
Carchesium polypinum	Constant	Secondary	60	734.3
Cothurnia annulata	Constant	Secondary	50	150.1
Epistylis plicatilis	Accessory	Pioneer	10	364.1
Epistylis sp. 1	Casual	Climax	90	972.6
Epistylis sp. 2	Casual	Climax	90	1,124.5
Epistylis sp. 3	Casual	Climax	80	967.1
Epistylis sp. 4	Casual	Pioneer	5	661.1
Haplocaulus distinguendus	Casual	Secondary	60
Myoschiston duplicatum	Constant	Pioneer	30	358.1
Opercularia elongata	Casual	Climax	90	307.1
Opercularia minima	Accessory	Secondary	70	140.1
Opercularia racemosa	Accessory	Secondary	90	213.8
Platycola decumbens	Casual	Pioneer	30	204.0
Pyxicola carteri	Constant	Climax	70	140.1
Rhabdostyla ovum	Casual	Pioneer	30
Thuricola folliculata	Casual	Secondary	80
Vaginicola tincta	Casual	Secondary	40
Vorticella campanula	Constant	Secondary	50	566.5
Vorticella chlorostigma	Casual	Pioneer	10	157.5
Vorticella convallaria	Constant	Secondary	50	234.4
Vorticella microstoma	Constant	Secondary	40	394.6
Zoothamnium arbuscula	Casual	Pioneer	30

The species are classified according to their constancy of occurrence, successional characteristic, days of exposure that presented the highest density, and compound size (sum of the mean zooid length, mean zooid width at midpoint, mean basal stalk length, and mean basal stalk width; in micrometers). Species present in more than 50% of collections were named as constant, those between 25% and 49% were considered accessory, and those occurring in less than 25% were named casual. Pioneer species were considered those whose maximum occurrences were recorded by the 30th day of exposure of the traps in the water; secondary species were those that had their maximums between the 30th and 60th days of exposure, and climax were considered the species that presented maximum occurrence after the 60th day of exposure.