Phagomyxids are a group of obligate endoparasitic protists belonging to the subphylum

Endomyxa Endomyxa is a subphylum of Rhizaria The Rhizaria are an ill-defined but species-rich supergroup of mostly unicellular eukaryotes. Except for the Chlorarachniophytes and three species in the genus Paulinella in the phylum Cercozoa, they are a ...

in Cercozoa. Taxonomically, they are united under a single family Phagomyxidae, order Phagomyxida, sister to the plasmodiophores.

Ecology

Phagomyxids are mainly parasites of

brown algae Brown algae (singular: alga), comprising the class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multicellular algae, including many seaweeds located in colder waters within the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and p ...

, but some can parasite

oomycetes Oomycota forms a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms, called oomycetes (). They are filamentous and heterotrophic, and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction of an oospore is the result ...

Taxonomy

The group was created in 1993 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 ...

, when it contained only the genus '' Phagomyxa''. Since then, ''

Maullinia ''Maullinia'' is a genus of intracellular, protistan parasites that infect brown algae (Phaeophyceae). Distribution ''Maullinia'' has been found in brown macroalgae across the Southern Hemisphere, including Chile, the Falkland Islands, Australia ...

'', a genus previously in Plasmodiophoridae, has joined the phagomyxids. * '' Phagomyxa'' * ''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21223249 Cercozoa families Cercozoa orders Endomyxa