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Meringosphaera is a genus of protists belonging to the Centrohelids. [1]
The species of this genus are reported to have worldwide distribution [1] including in Eurasia, Africa and Northern America. [2]
Species: [2]
The gymnosphaerids are a small group of heliozoan protists found in marine environments. They tend to be roughly spherical with radially directed axopods, supported by microtubules in a triangular-hexagonal array arising from an amorphous central granule.
The family Vampyrellidae is a subgroup of the order Vampyrellida within the supergroup Rhizaria. Based on molecular sequence data, the family currently comprises the genus Vampyrella, and maybe several other vampyrellid amoebae. The cells are naked and characterised by radiating, filose pseudopodia and an orange colouration of the main cell body.
The centrohelids or centroheliozoa are a large group of heliozoan protists. They include both mobile and sessile forms, found in freshwater and marine environments, especially at some depth.
Heliozoa, commonly known as sun-animalcules, are microbial eukaryotes (protists) with stiff arms (axopodia) radiating from their spherical bodies, which are responsible for their common name. The axopodia are microtubule-supported projections from the amoeboid cell body, and are variously used for capturing food, sensation, movement, and attachment. They are similar to Radiolaria, but they are distinguished from them by lacking central capsules and other complex skeletal elements, although some produce simple scales and spines. They may be found in both freshwater and marine environments.
Zoochlorella is a coloquial term for any green algae that lives symbiotically within the body of an aquatic invertebrate animal or a protozoan.
The tectofilosids are a group of filose amoebae with shells. These are composed of organic materials and sometimes collected debris, in contrast to the euglyphids, which produce shells from siliceous scales. The shell usually has a single opening, but in Amphitrema and a few other genera it has two on opposite ends. The cell itself occupies most of the shell. They are most often found on marsh plants such as Sphagnum.
Telonemia is a phylum of microscopic eukaryotes. They are unicellular free-living flagellates with a unique combination of cell structures, including a highly complex cytoskeleton unseen in other eukaryotes. They present characteristics similar to their sister group, the SAR supergroup, such as cortical alveoli, tripartite mastigonemes and filopodia. Together, the two lineages compose the TSAR clade. They are classified in three genera and seven species, although numerous undescribed lineages are known. They are detected in all marine and freshwater environments, where they prey on bacteria and small phytoplankton through phagotrophy.
Imbricatea is a class of Rhizaria characterised by silica scales. It is sometimes described as "Imbricatea/Silicofilosea", due to the similarity of those two groupings. Imbricatea is divided into the orders Euglyphida and Thaumatomonadida.
The kathablepharids are a group of heterotrophic flagellates (Protists) the first species of which was described by Skuja in 1939 as Kathablepharis phoenikoston,. His spelling was challenged because of non-compliance with botanical nomenclatural conditions, hence the alternative spelling Katablepharis. As the organism was heterotrophic and usually regarded as 'protozoan', and to favour stability, Skuja's original spelling has largely prevailed. With an anterior pocket and ejectisomes, the kathablepharids were thought initially to be cryptomonads. There were a variety of differences with Cryptomonas and other typical cryptomonads = cryptophytes, such as the thickness, length, and beat pattern of the flagella, their phagotrophic habitat, differences in the ejectisomes, and various features of their ultrastructure. The distinctive characteristics of the group were established from electron microscopical studies by Clay and Kugrens and Vørs. More recently they have been tentatively grouped with the chromalveolates, or distantly with the cryptophytes
Pinaciophora is an amoeboid genus of Heliozoa of uncertain affinity, previously classified as Rhizaria.
Rabdiophrys is a genus of amoeboid rhizarians. It has 19 species, including the species Rabdiophrys anulifera.
Raphidiophrys contractilis is a species of freshwater centrohelid.
Raphidiophryidae is a family of mostly freshwater centrohelids. It is the sister family of Acanthocystidae, sharing the trait of presenting silica scales and comprising the clade Chalarothoracina. Two genera, Raphidiophrys and Polyplacocystis, have been discovered so far.
Kiitoksia is a genus of aquatic protist. The taxonomic position of the genus is still uncertain and it has not found a robust location in any subgroup.
Haptista is a proposed group of protists made up of centrohelids and haptophytes. Phylogenomic studies indicate that Haptista, together with Ancoracysta twista, forms a sister clade to the SAR+Telonemia supergroup, but it may also be sister to the Cryptista (+Archaeplastida). It is thus one of the earliest diverging Diaphoretickes.
Amphilophium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to South America. Amphilophium crucigerum has escaped from cultivation elsewhere, and has become an invasive weed in Australia.
Raphidiophrys drakena is a species of protist in the genus of Raphidiophrys. It is a unicellular eukaryote with a cell diameter of 26.7±0.39 μm and several cell surface features like axopodia, kinecysts and a tangential scale layer. The scales have a length of 6.0±0.18 μm and a width of 3.5±0.14 μm. R. drakena differs from other morphologically studied members of the genus Rhaphidiophrys by lacking spicules on its surface.
Ancoracysta is a genus of eukaryotic microbes containing the species Ancoracysta twista, a predatory protist that appears to be related to Haptista.
Ophiaster hydroideus is a marine unicellular species of coccolithophore, an algae, in the family Syracosphaeraceae. It was first described by Hans Lohmann in 1902 as Meringosphaera hydroidea, however, this was changed to Ophiaster hydroideus in 1913. It has modified coccoliths that it can fold in or extend like arms: "These 'arms' are not actively deployed by the cell, but may function as a defensive barrier to discourage predators such as copepods".
Yogsothoth is a genus of centrohelid protists, distinguished by the shape and arrangement of their external scales as well as their colonial life strategy. It was described in November 2018 by Shɨshkin and Zlatogursky, and is part of a newly described clade of centrohelids, determined as such by analysis of molecular data.