''Siedleckiidae'' is a family of

parasitic 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 c ...

alveolates in the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature f ...

Apicomplexa 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. T ...

. Species in this family infect marine invertebrates.

Taxonomy

This family was created by Edouard Chatton and Felix Villeneuve in 1936. There is one genus recognised in this family - '' Siedleckia''. The type species is ''Siedleckia nematoides''. The taxonomic position of this family is unclear and it may be related to the gregarines or to the coccidians.Diakin A, Simdyanov TG, Paskerova G, Alesohin VV, Entzeroth R, Schrevel J, Valigurova A (2012) Phylogenetic study on early emerging apicomplexans with emphasis on genera ''Eleutheroschizon'' and ''Siedleckia''. In: X. české a slovenské parazitologické dny.

Description

The gamonts are elongated and flattened. They possess a smooth surface lacking any grooves or folds. The pellicle appears to be trilaminar and longitudinal

microtubule Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nm and have an inner diameter between 11 an ...

s lie deep to it. The parasite attaches to the host cell via

mucron A ''mucron'' is an attachment organelle found in archigregarines - an order of epicellular parasitic Conoidasida.Simdyanov TG, Guillou L, Diakin AY, Mikhailov KV, Schrével J, Aleoshin VV. (2017) A new view on the morphology and phylogeny of eugreg ...

. Feeding mode is apparently by

myzocytosis Myzocytosis (from Greek: myzein, (') meaning "to suck" and kytos (') meaning "container", hence referring to "cell") is a method of feeding found in some heterotrophic organisms. It is also called "cellular vampirism" as the predatory cell pierces ...

Life cycle

Species in this family infect the gastrointestinal tract and are presumably transmitted by the orofaecal route. Species in this family infect the polychete worm ''

Scoloplos armiger ''Scoloplos'' is a genus of annelids belonging to the family Orbiniidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in ...

''.

References

Apicomplexa families {{Apicomplexa-stub