''Stephanopogon'' is a genus of flagellated marine protist that superficially resembles a ciliate.

Characteristics

''Stephanopogon'' closely resembles certain ciliates and was originally classified with them (, but is now considered related to heterolobosean

flagellate A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word ''flagellate'' also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and their ...

s. The cell is somewhat flattened, with multiple smooth flagella arranged in rows running from the front to the back, and has an anterior mouth supported by rods. They feed on bacteria,

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s, and other smaller organisms. There are 2-16 nuclei, but they are not differentiated into macronuclei and micronuclei as occurs in ciliates. They have a cosmopolitan distribution. Prot euglenozoa stephanopogon apogon L eel pond mass

Prot euglenozoa stephanopogon apogon L eel pond mass

Classification

Because nuclear dimorphism is absent, ''Stephanopogon'' had been regarded as an evolutionary intermediate between the ciliates and other protozoa, and possibly an ancestor of the animals as well. Corliss and Lipscomb showed that it is not cytologically similar to ciliates, lacking their complex pellicle and infraciliature. Further electron microscopical studies added details to the understanding of the cytological organization of ''Stephanopogon''. Yubuki and Leander demonstrated that ''Stephanopogon'' is closely related to ''Percolomonas'' within the Heterolobosea. The bases of the flagella in both genera are attached to an electron dense cytoskeletal material, but it has been argued that this is not an apomorphy of the clade It has recently been included as a heterolosean in the class Percolatea, along with '' Percolomonas''. The genus contains 7 species: ''S. apogon'' Borror, 1965, ''S. colpoda'' Entz, 1884, ''S. mesnili'' Lwoff, 1923, ''S. minuta'' Lei et al., 1999, ''S. mobilensis'' Jones et Owen, 1974, ''S. paramesnili'' Lei et al., 1999 and ''S. pattersoni'' Lee et al., 2014 Lee, W. J. 2019. Small free-living heterotrophic flagellates from marine intertidal sediments of the Sydney region, Australia. Acta Protozoologica: 58 167-189. Prot stephie stephanopogon apogon L dp

References

External links

Tree of Life: Stephanopogon
{{Taxonbar, from=Q293160 Flagellates Percolozoa Excavata genera