Brooklynella hostilis n. g., n. sp., a Pathogenic Cyrtophorine Ciliate in Marine Fishes*

SYNOPSIS. Brooklynella hostilis is a new genus and new species of highly lethal Chilodonella-like parasite in the gills of marine fishes. It differs from other dysteriid ciliates by a combination of these features: 1) posterior-ventral adhesive apparatus consisting of a single glandular organelle that lacks a distinct discharging canal or podite; 2) the kinetosomes cover the entire ventral surface, except the left posterior portion of the body; the outer right kinety is divided into 2 segments; the middle postoral kinetyues as a row of kinetosomes without cilia around the glandular organelle; 3) there are never more than 9 nematodesmata; and 4), there are numerous small micronuclei. The lesions caused by the infection vary from a mild inflammatory reaction to extreme tissue damage resulting in severe hemorrhages, desquamation, and fusion of the gill lamellae.