Аннотация:The marine plankton contains an extremely diverse assemblage of ciliates which may be important in planktonic energy flow (e.g. see Burkill et al. 1987; Porter et al. 1985; Rassoulzadegan & Sheldon, 1986; Sherr & Sherr, 1987; Stoecker, Michaels & Davis, 1987; Verity, 1987). Many marine ciliates are delicate in nature and until recently have been poorly collected. Thus, they are often entirely missed in plankton sampling. During an investigation of the role of planktonic ciliates at the Isles of Shoals, Gulf of Maine (Montagnes & Lynn, 1988; Montagnes, Lynn, Roff & Taylor, 1988) samples were Bouin-fixed to preserve these delicate species. The ciliates were subsequently quantitatively protargol silver-stained to estimate species abundances and biomass (Montagnes & Lynn, 1987). This staining method, in addition to providing quantitative estimates of abundance and cell volume, gives invaluable taxonomic information by revealing cellular structures. Thus, it has been possible to compare the ciliates from the Gulf of Maine with described species.
