Abstract

This study reviews the state of knowlegde about ciliated protozoans in continental water bodies of Chile. Due to the lack specialists, exist very few studies on the taxonomy, the geographic distribution and the ecology of ciliates in Chile. Recent data exist only for the Araucanian Lakes, where with Stentor araucanus an edemic species of Chile and Argentina was described. Taxonomic problems are discussed and details about the distribution of the genus Stentor and Ophrydium in the chilean lakes are given.