Taxonomy and phylogenetic relationship of eight species of the genus Euplotes (hypotrichida, ciliophora) as revealed by enzyme electrophoresis.

Six freshwater and two marine species of the genus Euplotes were analysed by enzyme electrophoresis. Each species can be identified by a specific combination of enzyme bands. No bands in common occurred between freshwater and marine species, indicating that these two groups are distantly related. The electrophoretic data of the freshwater species were used for the construction of phenetic and phylogenetic trees with the help of computer programs. The trees were identical, regardless of the method that was used. In contradiction to an additional morphological analysis, the enzyme data reveal that E. octocarinatus, a species with nine frontoventral cirri, seems to be more closely related to E. crenosus with ten frontoventrals than to the other species with nine frontoventral cirri.