Report of deep-sea epibiont ciliates (Ciliophora) from more than 1000 m depth of the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean Author Chatterjee, Tapas Near Hari Mandir Road, Hirapur, Dhanbad 826001, Jharkhand, India. Author Sautya, Sabyasachi 0000-0003-2229-5834 Laboratory for Benthic Ecological Trait Analysis (L-BETA), Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Mumbai- 400053, India. & sautya @ nio. org; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 2229 - 5834 sautya@nio.org Author Dovgal, Igor 0000-0002-3876-233X A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, 2, Nakhimov ave., Sevastopol, 299011, Russia. dovgal- 1954 @ mail. ru; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 3876 - 233 X dovgal-1954@mail.ru Author Gaikwad, Santosh 0000-0002-8624-9725 Laboratory for Benthic Ecological Trait Analysis (L-BETA), Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Mumbai- 400053, India. & santygaikwad @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 8624 - 9725 santygaikwad@gmail.com Author Khokher, Sanofar H. 0000-0002-3508-940X Laboratory for Benthic Ecological Trait Analysis (L-BETA), Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Mumbai- 400053, India. & sanofar 1641992 @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 3508 - 940 X sanofar1641992@gmail.com Author Choudhury, Amita 0000-0001-9331-3628 Laboratory for Benthic Ecological Trait Analysis (L-BETA), Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Mumbai- 400053, India. & amita 94382 @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 9331 - 3628 amita94382@gmail.com text Zootaxa 2022 2022-03-28 5120 3 423 434 journal article 276810 10.11646/zootaxa.5120.3.8 7909725f-45fa-41df-842e-9fa5ad16055f 1175-5326 6389568 19AC5392-B277-4EE0-81B3-81F5558D1DFA Loricophrya cf. stresemanni (Allgén, 1951) ( Fig. 3 A–B ) Material examined: One individual found as epibiont on nematode host belongs to the genus Tricoma collected from stn MUC-20, at sediment depth 0–2 cm , water depth 2054 m , Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean. Diagnosis: Marine loricate suctorian with elongate cell body protruding from the edge of the stylotheca, conical, pseudostyle with varying degrees of development. The edge of the lorica is even, without cuts and toothings. There are a transverse wrinkles at the pseudo-style, which can be poorly discernible in individuals with short pseudo-style. The cell body is attached to the edges of the lorica aperture. Clavate tentacles (4–16) are located at the apical surface of the body. Macronucleus rounded, slightly elongated. Measurements from present find (based on one individual, in μm): Lorica length 31, lorica width 17, lorica aperture width 17, body length 34, body width14, stalk length 9, length of the tentacles 4–5. Host and substrate specificity: The species was described (Allgén 1951) as epibiont of nematode Spirina parasitifera (Bastian, 1865) , also registered on nematode specimens of the family Desmodoridae Filipjev, 1922 ( Chatterjee et al . 2019b ) and on representatives of genus Paradesmodora ( Baldrighi et al . 2020 ) ; on Tricoma sp. (present report). Distribution: The species was firstly registered from Trondheimsfjord ( Norway ), the Norwegian sea (Allgén 1951). Next was found in Miramar bay, Goa, west coast of India at the mouth region of Mandovi River mixing with the Arabian Sea ( Chatterjee et al . 2019b ) and in Archipelago of Maldives - coral reef ( Baldrighi et al . 2020 ); Arabian Sea, 2054 m depth (present report). Remarks: The species was found on nematode hosts only.