''Gromia appendiculariae'' is a

unicellular A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells. Organisms fall into two general categories: prokaryotic organisms and ...

, and parasitic,

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

in the genus ''

Gromia ''Gromia'' is a genus of protists, closely related to foraminifera, which inhabit marine and freshwater environments. It is the only genus of the family Gromiidae. ''Gromia'' are ameboid, producing filose pseudopodia that extend out from the ce ...

'', which closely resembles ''

Gromia sphaerica ''Gromia sphaerica'' is a large spherical testate amoeba, a single-celled eukaryotic organism and the largest of its genus, '' Gromia''. The genus itself contains about 13 known species, 3 of which have been recently discovered. It was discovered ...

''. A specimen of G. appendiculariae was discovered as a

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

attached to the tail of a species of ''

Oikopleura ''Oikopleura'' is a genus of Tunicata (sea-squirts) in the class Appendicularia. It forms a mucus house every four hours at 20 degrees Celsius. This house has a coarse mesh to keep out big particles, and a fine mesh that collects the small par ...

''.

References

{{Cercozoa-stub Gromiidea Amoeboids Parasitic eukaryotes Parasites of animals