Cephaloidophoridae is a family of parasitic
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 ...
of the
phylum Apicomplexia
The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia) are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of non-photosynthetic plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. ...
Taxonomy
There are three genera in this taxon and seventy named species.
History
This taxon was created by Kamm in 1922.
[Kamm MEW (1922) Studies on gregarines II: Synopsis of the polycystid gregarines of the world, excluding those from the Myriapoda, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera. University of Illinois Press]
Description
Species in this family infect
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
s and infect only a single host during their life cycle.
They are spread by the orofaecal route and infect the intestine of the host.
Their early development is within the cells of the intestine. Once mature they rupture the cell and escape into the intestinal lumen.
The
primite is distinguishable from satellite.
The parasites associate with one another prior to
syzygy in a head to tail (caudofrontal) fashion.
There is marked
anisogamy.
The
gametocysts open by simple rupture;
The
oocysts are ovoid or spherical in shape. There is a protruding equatorial ridge but there is no distinct
epispore;
Differential diagnosis
References
Conoidasida
SAR supergroup families
{{Apicomplexa-stub