The apparently misunderstood Didinium Gargantua of Alphonse Meunier

Abstract

Meunier's, 1910 "Microplankton des Mers de Barents et de Kara" was the first monographic treatment of protists of the arctic plankton, and it contained many descriptions of new species of a variety of taxa. Among the most conspicuous was the ciliate Didinium Garantua, named with a capital G, corresponding with the title character, the gluttonous giant, of Rabelais' 1534 novel, Gargantua, a classic of French literature. Meunier described D. gargantua at length in the text as a large voracious predator, and devoted many figures to it. As of today, it has been reported from a surprising diversity of marine and estuarine ecosystems, for example, from Antarctic sea-ice, to the Gulf of Mexico, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Caspian Sea. However, most reports concern specimens of sizes considerably smaller than most of those depicted by Meunier, and cite no taxonomic authorities for ciliate identifications, suggesting that many researchers may be unfamiliar Meunier's, 1910 monograph, thus with the 'gargantuan' nature of his D. gargantua. Here, a brief biography of Meunier is given first, followed by a description of his 1910 monograph, and then a summary of his text, and some of his remarkable figures of D. gargantua are presented. Finally, subsequent reports of the occurrence of D. gargantua are reviewed, and it is suggested that many concern a species distinct from D. gargantua, as there are large differences in size and shapes compared to Meunier's species.

Keywords: Arctic Ocean; Ciliates; Microzooplankton; Plankton; Scientific illustrations.