A commensal ciliate was isolated from the stool of a tortoise (Astrochelys radiata). The ciliate was classified as Nyctotherus teleacus, according to its basic morphological features. Electron microscopic observations using cultured N. teleacus (NictoT1 strain) revealed many spherical hydrogenosomes and methanogen-suspected bacteria, together with a characteristic triangular macronucleus containing many spherical chromosomes in the cytoplasm of NictoT1. The results of phylogenetic analysis showed that NictoT1 was included in the cluster of Nyctotheroides spp. (family Nyctotheridae). Nyctotheroides spp. commonly infest amphibians, which are taxonomically closely related to reptiles, including the tortoises evaluated in the present study.
Keywords: Astrochelys radiate; Nyctotheroidessp.; Nyctotherus teleacus; electron microscopic feature; genetic phylogeny.