With highly specialized morphology and unexplored functional capacities, ciliates from extreme habitats are drawing increasing attention. During a microbial investigation of a solar saltern pond (salinity 240‰) on Mallorca, Spain, a previously unknown scuticociliate, Platynematum rossellomorai n. sp. was isolated, cultured and studied using a tripartite approach consisting of a morphological description, a molecular analysis and an ecophysiological characterization. The ciliate has distinct morphological characteristics and its main diagnostic features include a large anteriorly positioned oral area (occupying almost half of the body length), two caudal cilia and a small number of somatic kineties. However, due to the most important generic feature of Cinetochilidae, the consistency of the arrangement of the adoral membranes, the ciliate is classified as a new member of the genus Platynematum. Its 18S rRNA gene sequence shows a sequence similarity of 91.0% to the closest deposited relative, Platynematum salinarum, and a phylogenetic analysis reveals a close relationship to other members of the family Cinetochilidae Perty, 1852. Growth experiments identify the ciliate as a borderline halophile, with a tolerance range between 180 and 280‰ salinity. The ciliate apparently accumulates the compatible solutes glycine betaine and ectoine to counterbalance osmotic stress, however, other osmoregulatory mechanisms are not excluded.

具有高度专业化的形态和未开发的功能能力，来自极端栖息地的纤毛吸引了越来越多的关注。在西班牙马略卡岛的一个太阳能盐池（盐度为240‰）的微生物调查中，先前未知的cut科植物Platenematum rossellomorai。sp。分离，培养和研究使用的三方方法包括形态描述，分子分析和生态生理学表征。纤毛虫具有独特的形态学特征，其主要诊断特征包括较大的前部口腔区域（几乎占人体长度的一半），两个尾纤毛和少数体细胞运动。然而，由于棘皮纲的最重要的通用特征，即膜的排列的一致性，纤毛虫被分类为侧柏属的新成员。它的18S rRNA基因序列与最接近的近亲疟原虫salinarum的序列相似性为91.0％，以及系统发育分析表明，它与Cinetochilidae Perty家族的其他成员有着密切的关系，1852年。生长实验确定纤毛虫为嗜盐菌的临界边缘，​​其耐盐度范围为180至280‰。纤毛虫显然会积累相容的溶质甘氨酸甜菜碱和ectoine以抵消渗透压，但是，其他渗透调节机制也没有排除。