''Voromonas'' is a genus of predatory
alveolates
The alveolates (meaning "pitted like a honeycomb") are a group of protists, considered a major clade and superphylum within Eukarya. They are currently grouped with the stramenopiles and Rhizaria among the protists with tubulocristate mitochond ...
. The genus and species were described by Mylnikov in 2000.
It was originally described as ''Colpodella pontica'' but was later renamed by
Cavalier-Smith
Thomas (Tom) Cavalier-Smith, FRS, FRSC, NERC Professorial Fellow (21 October 1942 – 19 March 2021), was a professor of evolutionary biology in the Department of Zoology, at the University of Oxford.
His research has led to disc ...
and Chao in 2004.
Taxonomy
There is one species known in this genus.
A DNA based analysis suggests that this species may be related to the ''
Colpodella
''Colpodella'' is a genus of alveolates comprising 5 species, and two further possible species: They share all the synapomorphies of apicomplexans, but are free-living, rather than parasitic. Many members of this genus were previously assigned to ...
''.
Feeding
At the anterior end of the protozoan, this organism manifests a rostrum which contains a microtubular structure (the pseudoconoid) The pseudoconoid forms an open cone and which is located adjacent to
microtubular bands,
microneme
Micronemes are secretory organelles, possessed by parasitic apicomplexans. Micronemes are located on the apical third of the protozoan body. They are surrounded by a typical unit membrane. On electron microscopy they have an electron-dense matrix ...
s and
rhoptries. The pseudoconoid begins near the
kinetosome
A basal body (synonymous with basal granule, kinetosome, and in older cytological literature with blepharoplast) is a protein structure found at the base of a eukaryotic undulipodium (cilium or flagellum). The basal body was named by Theodor W ...
s of the
flagella and passes along the flagellate pocket into the rostrum.
While feeding on prey organisms the rostrum is inserted into the body of the prey and the cytoplasm is sucked out. Known prey organisms include
bodonids,
chrysomonads,
percolomonads. Known non prey organisms include naked
amoeba
An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudop ...
s,
ciliate
The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a differen ...
s,
cryptomonad
The cryptomonads (or cryptophytes) are a group of algae, most of which have plastids. They are common in freshwater, and also occur in marine and brackish habitats. Each cell is around 10–50 μm in size and flattened in shape, with an anteri ...
s and colorless
euglenoid
Euglenids (euglenoids, or euglenophytes, formally Euglenida/Euglenoida, ICZN, or Euglenophyceae, ICBN) are one of the best-known groups of flagellates, which are excavate eukaryotes of the phylum Euglenophyta and their cell structure is typical o ...
s.
References
Alveolata genera
Monotypic SAR supergroup genera
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