PROTOZOA 2

DR CHIRWA EMMANUEL
apicomplexa
1. EUGLENOIDEA
 CLASIFICATION

Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Excavata
Phylum: Euglenozoa
Class: Euglenoidea
• Euglenoids (or euglena)
are one of the best-
known groups of
flagellates commonly
found in freshwater
especially when it is rich
in organic materials, with
a few marine and
endosymbiotic
members.
• Many euglenids have chloroplasts and
produce energy through photosynthesis
but others feed by phagocytosis or
strictly by diffusion. They belong to the
phylum Euglenophyta, and their cell
structure is typical of that group.
• Euglenoids are thought to descend from
an ancestor that took up green algae by
secondary endosymbiosis
• Euglenoids are distinguished mainly
by the presence of a pellicle
(periplast), which is composed of
proteinaceous strips underneath the
cell membrane, supported by dorsal
and ventral microtubules. This varies
from rigid to flexible, and gives the
cell its shape, often giving it
distinctive striations.
• In many euglenids the
strips can slide past one
another, causing an inching
motion called metaboly.
Otherwise they move using
the flagella.
• the primitive mode of nutrition is
phagocytosis.. Prey such as bacteria
and smaller flagellates are ingested
through a cytostome .
• Others form an extendable siphon.
• Most phagotrophic euglenids have two
flagella, one leading and one trailing. The
latter is used for gliding along the substrate. In
some, such as Peranema, the leading
flagellum is rigid and beats only at its tip.
 Reading assignment
• What is the type of reproduction
found in euglenoidea
2 kinetoplastida