The alveolates are a group of protists, considered a major clade and superphylum within Eukarya. They are currently grouped with the stramenopiles and Rhizaria among the protists with tubulocristate mitochondria, the group being referred to as SAR.
The heterotrichs are a class of ciliates. They typically have a prominent adoral zone of membranelles circling the mouth, used in locomotion and feeding, and shorter cilia on the rest of the body. Many species are highly contractile, and are typically compressed or conical in form. These include some of the largest protozoa, such as Stentor and Spirostomum, as well as many brightly pigmented forms, such as certain Blepharisma.
The plagiopylids are a small order of ciliates, including a few forms common in anaerobic habitats.
Blepharisma is a genus of unicellular ciliate protists found in fresh and salt water. The group includes about 40 accepted species, and many sub-varieties and strains. While species vary considerably in size and shape, most are easily identified by their red or pinkish color, which is caused by granules of the pigment blepharismin.
Vorticella is a genus of bell-shaped ciliates that have stalks to attach themselves to substrates. The stalks have contractile myonemes, allowing them to pull the cell body against substrates. The formation of the stalk happens after the free-swimming stage.
Karyorelictea is a class of ciliates in the subphylum Postciliodesmatophora. Most species are members of the microbenthos community, that is, microscopic organisms found in the marine interstitial habitat, though one genus, Loxodes, is found in freshwater.
The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a different undulating pattern than flagella. Cilia occur in all members of the group and are variously used in swimming, crawling, attachment, feeding, and sensation.
Epixenosomes, also known as Candidatus Epixenosoma are a genus of bacteria in the phylum Verrucomicrobiota that form a symbiosis with marine ciliates of the genus Euplotidium, where they help to defend their ciliate hosts against predators. It is a monospecific genus, containing only the species Ca. Epixenosoma ejectans.
Colpidium colpoda are free-living ciliates commonly found in many freshwater environments including streams, rivers, lakes and ponds across the world. Colpidium colpoda is also frequently found inhabiting wastewater treatment plants. This species is used as an indicator of water quality and waste treatment plant performance.
Euplotes petzi is a species of littoral ciliates, first found near King George Island.
Protoheterotrichida is an order of karyorelict ciliates. It contains the family Geleiidae.
Geleiidae is a family of karyorelict ciliates. It is sometimes synonymized with family Aveliidae.
Armophorea is a class of ciliates in the subphylum Intramacronucleata. . It was first resolved in 2004 and comprises three orders: Metopida, Clevelandellida, and Armophorida. Previously members of this class were thought to be heterotrichs because of similarities in morphology, most notably a characteristic dense arrangement of cilia surrounding their oral structures. However, the development of genetic tools and subsequent incorporation of DNA sequence information has led to major revisions in the evolutionary relationships of many protists, including ciliates. Metopids, clevelandellids, and armophorids were grouped into this class based on similarities in their small subunit rRNA sequences, making them one of two so-called "riboclasses" of ciliates, however, recent analyses suggest that Armophorida may not be related to the other two orders.
Wilbertomorphidae is a family of karyorelictean ciliates. The family is monotypic, because it contains a single genus Wilbertomorpha with a single known species, Wilbertomorpha colpoda.
Zoothamnium is a genus of ciliate protozoan.
Geleia is a genus of karyorelict ciliates in the family Geleiidae.
Parduczia is a genus of karyorelict ciliates in the family Geleiidae.
Gellertia is a monotypic genus of karyorelict ciliates in the family Geleiidae. It contains a single species, Gellertia heterotricha.
Parablepharismea is a class of free-living marine and brackish anaerobic ciliates that form a major clade of obligate anaerobes within the SAL group, together with the classes Muranotrichea and Armophorea.
Halteria, sometimes referred to as the jumping oligotrich, is a genus of common planktonic ciliates that are found in many freshwater environments. Halteria are easy to locate due to their abundance and distinctive behaviour with observations of Halteria potentially dating back to the 17th century and the discovery of microorganisms. Over time more has been established about their morphology and behavior, which has led to many changes in terms of classification.
