Like all members of the genus Thioploca, two new marine thioplocas from the benthos of the Chilean continental shelf were found to be colonial, multicellular, gliding trichomes of uniform diameter enclosed by a common sheath. However, the cellular sulfur inclusions were located in the thin peripheral cytoplasm surrounding a large, central vacuole. Gliding motility of these organisms did not persist in diluted seawater, under fully aerobic conditions, or in anaerobic atmospheres. Low concentrations of sulfide (100 μM) were beneficial. The trichome diameters of Thioploca araucae ranged from 30 to 43 μm, and those of Thioploca chileae ranged from 12 to 20 μm. Neither species has been isolated in pure culture.
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