Plagiopylid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iPlagiopylids
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked) Alveolata
Phylum: Ciliophora
Class: Plagiopylea
Order: Plagiopylida
Small & Lynn, 1985
Typical families

Plagiopylidae
Sonderidae

The plagiopylids are a small order of ciliate protozoa, including a few forms common in anaerobic habitats.

The body cilia are dense, and arise from monokinetids with an entirely unique ultrastructure; one or two rows of dikinetids run into the oral cavity, which takes the form of a groove, with a deep tube lined by oral cilia leading to the mouth. The order was introduced by Small & Lynn in 1985, who treated it as a subclass of Oligohymenophorea. Since then they tend to be treated as an independent class, possibly affiliated with the Colpodea.