My watch list
my.bionity.com  
Login  

Hypotrich



Hypotrichs

Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked) Alveolata
Phylum: Ciliophora
Class: Spirotrichea
Subclass: Hypotrichia
Stein 1859 emend.
Typical orders

Euplotida
Kiitrichida

The hypotrichs are a group of ciliate protozoa, included among the spirotrichs. Most are oval in shape, with a rigid pellicle, and have cirri distributed in isolated tufts on the ventral surface of the cell. Some also have dorsal cilia, which function as sensory bristles. Euplotes and Aspidisca are common genera. Like other ciliates, hypotrichs reproduce by cell division and conjugation.

   

The hypotrichs were first defined by Friedrich von Stein in 1859. Originally the stichotrichs, which also have cirri, were included here, but they were separated out by Small & Lynn, 1981, who placed the restricted hypotrichs among the Nassophorea because of various peculiarities in their infraciliature. More recent schemes reverse this move, and some molecular studies suggest they may be paraphyletic to the stichotrichs as currently defined.

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hypotrich". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
Your browser is not current. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 does not support some functions on Chemie.DE