Perkinsus

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Clade:Sar
Clade:Alveolata
Class:Perkinsea
Perkinsus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Sar
Clade: Alveolata
Phylum: Perkinsozoa
Class: Perkinsea
Order: Perkinsida
Family: Perkinsidae
Genus: Perkinsus
Levine, 1978

Perkinsus is a genus of alveolates in the phylum Perkinsozoa. The genus was erected in 1978 to better treat its type species, Perkinsus marinus, known formerly as Dermocystidium marinum.[1] These are parasitic protozoans that infect molluscs, at least some of which cause disease and mass mortality. P. marinus is the most notorious, causing the disease perkinsosis, or dermo, in wild and farmed oysters.[2]

Perkinsus is a genus in the class Perkinsea that is a parasite of bivalve molluscs; it displays a number of features typical of the dinoflagellates including laterally inserted heterodynamic flagella,. However, it has been settled that Perkinsus does not belong to the phylum Dinoflagellata, but rather into the phylum Perkinsozoa,[3] which is the sister group of dinoflagellates.[4]

Classification

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