Protists found in water at the Kashibaru MarshThe Protists Found in Water at the Kashibaru Marsh in
Saga Prefecture, Kyushu Japan
Kenichi Nishimura
In tr od uc ti on
Kashibaru Marsh is located among the Sefuri Mountains in Saga Prefecture,
Japan, 591 meters high from the sea level. The total area of the marsh is as much as
8 hectares. This is known as the biggest marsh in Kyushu. The marsh is in theform of basin among mainly granite hills, and the soil is a layer of clay.
The main supply of the water into the marsh consists of flows from the mountains,spring water from the bottom, and rainfall. No water containing agriculturalchemicals from the surrounding rice fields comes into the marsh due to artificialwalls.
About 60 kinds of rare marsh plants are said to be native to the marsh, and rare
insects such as the smallest dragonfly, Nannophya pygmaea, the blue bee are livingin the area.
Since 1976, the marsh has been designated as Saga Natural Environment
Protected Area to protect these rare natural creatures.
From August 2013 to November 2014, I visited the marsh every month except
winter to find protists in water at the marsh.
Ma teri als a nd M ethods
I checked atmospheric temperature, water temperature and potential of hydrogen(pH) of the water. I estimated the pH with a use of indicator paper.
Then I aspirated several milliliter of water together with a small quantity of
sediment with a long pipette.
The place which I took the samples was the same place every time at the marsh. Iobserved the samples under a microscope and photographed protists found. I sent
the photomicrographs to Dr. Tsukii for his confirming identification of the species.
R es ults
Table 1 shows days of collection and the data. The lowest water temperature was6℃ in March 2014 and the highest was 27℃ in August 2013. The water was clear
and slightly acidic all the time.
Table 2 shows all protists found from the collected samples. In total, 35 species ofprotists were identified: 4 in Mastigophora, 2 in Heterokonta, 3 in Sarcodina, 4 inCiliophora and 22 in Chlorophyta.
Besides these species, some protists, which were difficult to identify , were found inthe materials. Diatoms such as Navicura sp., Cymbella sp., or Pinnularia sp. werecommonly seen through all seasons, except wintertime.
Figure 1 shows a part of Kashibaru Marsh. Figure 2 shows all photomicrographsof the protists which I found in the marsh.
Disc ussi onTsukii1) found a total of 299 kinds of protists from Kashibaru Marsh on 5
investigations until November 26, 2012.
Protist Information Server, May 1, 2015
© 2015 Kenichi Nishimura1

Protists found in water at the Kashibaru Marsh

Together with his report, my present investigation show that a large number ofprotists are living in Kashibaru Marsh. On the other hand, the protists found fromother ponds or rice fields in Saga Prefecture are very scanty2).
The main reason of the difference is thought to be the presence of agriculturalchemicals in these ponds or rice fields.
No such chemicals, which kill protists come into the marsh from surrounding rice
fields due to the protection by artificial walls.
As a conclusion Kashibaru Marsh is a precious treasury for protists, especially for
Chlorophyta. We should preserve the present conditions for all time.
Ac kn owl ed gem e nt
I express my sincere thanks to Dr. Yuuji Tsukii , Professor of Hosei University, for
his valuable suggestion and identification of the protists. Thanks are also due to mywife for her assistance in taking materials at the marsh.
Liter atur es
1) Yuuji Tsukii
http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/PDB/Sampling/Locations/09-Saga/Karatsu/Kashibarulist.html(Accessed 20 January 2015)
2) Yuuji Tsukii
http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/PDB/Sampling/Prefectures/index.html(Accessed 20 January 2015)2

Protists found in water at the Kashibaru MarshTa bl e 1

Days of collection and the data.

Day of Collection

WeatherAir Temp.

Water Temp.

pH

August 9, 2013

fine—276.5

October 4, 2013

fine

24

23

6.0

November 15, 2013

fine

12106.5

March 7, 3014

fine

4

66.0

April 4, 2014

cloudy58

6.5

May 1, 2014

cloudy5

13

6.5

May 23, 2014

fine

22

18

6.0

June 20, 2014

cloudy

25

20

6.0

July 18, 2014

cloudy

25

25

6.0

August 31, 2014

fine

25

23

6.0

September 13, 2014

fine

23

21

6.0

October 3, 2014

fine

22

21

6.5

November 30, 2014

rainy

—126.5Ta bl e 2

Protists found in the marsh.

Mas ti g oph or aC hl or op hy ta

Cystodinium sp. (Sep)

Pediastrum angulosum (Aug＊, May, Sep)

Euglena hemichromata（Oct＊）

Tetracystis sp.?

Merotrichia sp?（Aug＊）

Pleurotaenium trabecula? (Aug)

Merotrichia capitata (Sep)

Triploceras gracile (Oct＊,Aug, Sep, Nov)

(Aug＊)

Closterium navicula(Jul)

H eter o konta

Closterium toxon ( Jul, Oct)

Synura sp. (Apr, Nov)

Closterium aburuptum? (May)

Vacuolaria sp.? (Jun)

Closterium dianae(Aug＊May, Sep, Oct, Nov)

Closterium baillyanum (Aug*,May,Jun,Jul)
Sarc odi n a

Closterium intermedium? (Nov)

Arcella vulgaris (Apr)

Closterium ralfsii (May)Centropyxis aculeata (May)

Closterium setaceum

Trinema sp. (May)

Closterium toxon ( Jul, Oct)
Closterium rectimarginatum (Oct)
Closterium rostratum ( Jun, Aug)Cil ioph or a

Stentor fuliginosus? (Aug )Staurastrum subteliferum (Oct*)

Spirostomum sp.? (Mar)

Staurastrum sp.

Coleps hirtus (Apr, May)

Staurastrum tohopekaligense (Aug＊)＊3(Jul)Protists found in water at the Kashibaru MarshParamecium bursaria (May)

Cosmarium contractum (Aug, Nov＊,Nov)
Cosmarium quadrifarium? (Sep)Cosmarium pandriforme? ( Apr, May)
Bambusina brebissonii （Sep）（Month in which found the protist）＊Year of 2013

Fig .1

Kashibaru Marsh. (September 13, 2014)4

Protists found in water at the Kashibaru Marsh

Fig .2a Photomicrographs of protists found in the marsh.

5Protists found in water at the Kashibaru Marsh

Fig .2b Photomicrographs of protists found in the marsh.

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Protists found in water at the Kashibaru Marsh

Fig .2c Photomicrographs of protists found in the marsh.

Fig.2c Photomicrographs of protists found in the marsh.

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