''Avelia'' is a genus of karyorelict

ciliate The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagellum, eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a ...

s belonging to the family Geleiidae. The genus name is a taxonomic patronyms honoring Marcel Avel (1900–1983; professor of anatomy), with slight modification into the ''

nomen novum In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' (Latin for "new name"), new replacement name (or replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a scientific name that is created specifically to replace another scientific name, but only w ...

'' ''Avelia'' to avoid a taxonomic homonymy with the moth genus '' Avela''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q25363970 Karyorelictea Ciliate genera Taxa described in 1977