Endosphaera
Genus of ciliates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Endosphaera is a genus of suctorian ciliates described by George Engelmann in 1876. Species of Endosphaera are found in freshwater and seawater as either parasitic or commensal endosymbionts of other ciliates.
| Endosphaera | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Ciliophora |
| Class: | Phyllopharyngea |
| Order: | Endogenida |
| Family: | Endosphaeridae |
| Genus: | Endosphaera Engelmann 1876 |
| Type species | |
| Endosphaera engelmanni Entz 1896[1] | |
Description
Members of the genus Endosphaera are symbiotic suctorian ciliates.[2] Suctorians commonly have permanent adhesive organelles, but Endosphaera cells also exhibit a "perforatium", a temporary structure used for attachment to their host.[3] They lack the typical stalks or tentacles found in other suctorians.[4] Their life cycle is characterized by a free-swimming infective stage, or swarmer, and an adult intracellular stage that infects other ciliates.[5]
Endosphaera species are among the most common suctorian symbionts of ciliates in both freshwater and seawater.[1] They are mainly observed as endoparasites or endocommensals of peritrich ciliates, such as the genera Trichodina, Trichodinella and Mantoscyphidia,[4] but also other ciliates such as the vorticellid Spongostena and the suctorian Dendrocometes.[1]
Classification
The genus Endosphaera was described in 1876 by German-American biologist George Engelmann, initially without designating any species.[6] Later, four species were described, distinguished by the morphology of their swarmer stage: E. engelmanni, E. multifiliis, E. elisabetharum, and E. terebrans.[5][3] In 1978, the family Endosphaeridae was created to accommodate Endosphaera[7][2] and two similar genera, Parendosphaera and Acoelophthirius.[3]