Recent advances in molecular technology have revolutionized research on all aspects of the biology of organisms, including ciliates, and created unprecedented opportunities for pursuing a more integrative approach to investigations of biodiversity. However, this goal is complicated by large gaps and inconsistencies that still exist in the foundation of basic information about biodiversity of ciliates. The present paper reviews issues relating to the taxonomy of ciliates and presents specific recommendations for best practice in the observation and documentation of their biodiversity. This effort stems from a workshop that explored ways to implement six Grand Challenges proposed by the International Research Coordination Network for Biodiversity of Ciliates (IRCN-BC). As part of its commitment to strengthening the knowledge base that supports research on biodiversity of ciliates, the IRCN-BC proposes to populate The Ciliate Guide, an online database, with biodiversity-related data and metadata to create a resource that will facilitate accurate taxonomic identifications and promote sharing of data.

Acharya Narendra Dev College University of Delhi New Delhi 110019 India

Biology Center of the Upper Austrian Museum Linz A 4040 Austria

College of Life and Environmental Sciences Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou 310036 China

Departamento de Microbiología 3 Facultad de Biología Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid 28040 Spain

Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences North Carolina Central University Durham North Carolina 27707 USA

Department of Biological Sciences Egerton University Egerton 20115 Kenya

Department of Biological Sciences George Washington University Washington District of Columbia 20052 USA

Department of Biological Sciences University of Huddersfield Huddersfield HD1 3DH United Kingdom

Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston Houston Texas 77006 5001 USA

Department of Earth Sciences Natural History Museum London SW7 5BD United Kingdom

Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Salzburg Salzburg A 5020 Austria

Department of Ecology University of Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern 67663 Germany

Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON N1G 2W1 Canada

Department of Life and Environmental Sciences Bournemouth University Bournemouth BH12 5BB United Kingdom

Department of Life Sciences Natural History Museum London SW7 5BD United Kingdom

Department of Marine Sciences University of Connecticut Groton Connecticut 06340 USA

Department of Science and Technology Bryant University Smithfield Rhode Island 02917 USA

Department of Zoology Charles University Prague Prague 12744 Czech Republic

Department of Zoology King Saud University Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia

Division of Natural Sciences University of Guam Mangilao Guam 96923 USA

Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring School of Life Science South China Normal University Guangzhou 510631 China

Institute of Environmental Sciences Jagiellonian University Kraków 30 387 Poland

Institute of Integrative Biology University of Liverpool Liverpool L69 7ZB United Kingdom

Institute of Marine Sciences University of Portsmouth Portsmouth PO4 9LY United Kingdom

Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao 266071 China

Kazan Federal University Kremlyovskaya ul 18 Kazan 420000 Russia

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710049 China

Laboratory of Protozoology Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao 266003 China

Maitreyi College University of Delhi New Delhi 110021 India

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris 75005 France

Protozoology Section Zoological Survey of India Newalipore Kolkata 700053 India

Research Center of Hydrobiology College of Life Science and Technology Jinan University Guangzhou 510632 China

Research Institute for Limnology University of Innsbruck Mondsee 5310 Austria

School of Biological Sciences University of Sydney Sydney NSW 2004 Australia

School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino Camerino 62032 Italy

Scottish Association for Marine Science Oban PA37 1QA United Kingdom

SGTB Khalsa College University of Delhi Delhi 110007 India

Tropical Limnology Research Project FES Iztacala Universidad National Autonoma de México Edo México 540 90 Mexico

Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Yantai 264003 China

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Diversification of CORVET tethers facilitates transport complexity in Tetrahymena thermophila