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 bosporica Sergeeva & Dovgal, 2016 ( Fig. 2 E–F ) Material examined: One individual found as epibiont on nematode host belongs to the genus Tricoma collected from stn MUC-18, at sediment depth 2–4 cm , water depth 4119 m , Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean. Diagnosis: Marine loricate suctorian with elongate cell body completely covered with a lorica. Stylotheca, conical, characterized by a gradual thickening of the walls toward the lorica aperture. There is a transverse wrinkle in the lower part of stylotheca in some individuals. The lower part of stylotheca, which separated from the upper part by a well-visible septum, slightly longitudinally striated, have thinner walls, finishes by widening (basal disc) that use for the attachment to the host’s body surface. The cell body is attached to the lorica in the mouth with the help of its edges folded inwards. A few clavate tentacles are located at the apical surface of the body. Macronucleus rounded. Measurements from present find (based on two individuals, in μm): Lorica length 31–37, lorica width 15–16, lorica aperture width 14–16, macronucleus diameter 6–8, length of the tentacles 5–13. Host and substrate specificity: The species reported as epibiont on nematodes Desmoscolex cf. minutus Claparède,1863 ( Sergeeva & Dovgal 2016 ); on Metachromadoroides remanei (Gerlach, 1951) ( Ivanova et al . 2017 ) . Baldrighi et al . (2020) reported the species from nematode worms of genera Desmodora and Desmoscolex Claparède, 1863 . This species is found as epibiont on nematode host belongs to the genus Tricoma (present report). Distribution: Istanbul Strait’s area, Bosporus region, the Black Sea ( Sergeeva & Dovgal 2016 ); from methane seep of the Ria Formosa lagoon, Southern Portugal ( Ivanova et al. 2017 ); Gulf of Naples-shallow vent area and French ( Baldrighi et al. 2020 ); Arabian Sea, 4119 m depth (present report). Remarks : The species was found on nematode hosts only and was mentioned as extremophile ( Dovgal & Sergeeva 2016 ).