New records of the giant ciliate Zoothamnium niveum (Protozoa, Peritrichia)

Zoothamnium niveum (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1831) is a giant, colonial marine ciliate from sulfide-rich habitats. It is covered with chemoautotrophic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria that give a snow-white appearance to the animal. The feather-like colonies reach a size of up to 1.5 cm (Bauer-Nebelsick et al. 1996; Ott et al. 1998; Clamp & Williams 2006; Rinke et al. 2006, 2007). The species has been reported from rotting plant material in shallow water in the Red Sea, from Florida and the Caribbean, and from Corsica Island (western Mediterranean Sea). It is here reported from the eastern Atlantic, from the eastern Mediterranean Sea and from an additional site in the western Mediterranean Sea.