Ciliate (Ciliata, Ciliophora) fauna of different stomach departments of sika deer (<i>Cervus nippon</i> Temminck, 1838)
Sika deer - <i>Cervus nippon</i> Temminck, 1838 is an essential commercial species of mammals in Russia. Any new data about the biology of <i>Cervus nippon</i> in nature are valuable. It is well known that 14 ciliate species of Ophryoscolecidae Stein, 1859 = (Ciliophora, Ciliata) family from 4 genera are found in different stomach departments of herbivorous mammals. The authors have studied the stomach contents of three dead sika deer from the Primorye Territory (Terney District), Omsk Region (Omsk District) and Chelyabinsk Region (Verkhny Ufaley urban district). In the parietal layer of rumen, reticulum and omasum, there have been found 14 species of ciliates, belonging to 4 genera: <i>Entodinium</i> - 7 species, <i>Epidinium</i> - 2 species, <i>Diplodinium</i> - 3 species, and 2 species of <i>Eudiplodinium</i>. <i>Entodinium ovinum</i>, <i>E. caudatum-dubardi</i>, <i>Diplodinium monacanthumi</i>, <i>D. rangiferi</i> have been registered for the first time. All found types correspond to the descriptions in the literature. Occurrence and abundance of ciliate species are different in various cells of the stomach. This is typical for Ophryoscolecidae fauna of other herbivorous mammals.