{{Short description|Genus of ciliates}} {{for|the genus of green algae alternatively known as Endosphaera|Chlorochytrium}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Endosphaera | authority = Engelmann 1876 | type_species = Endosphaera engelmanni | type_species_authority = Entz 1896<ref name="Jankowski-2015"/> }} '''''Endosphaera''''' is a genus of suctorian ciliates described by George Engelmann in 1876. Species of ''Endosphaera'' are found in freshwater and seawater as either parasitic or commensal endosymbionts of other ciliates. ==Description== Members of the genus ''Endosphaera'' are symbiotic suctorian ciliates.<ref name="Adl-2019">{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1111%2FJEU.12691 | doi=10.1111/JEU.12691 | title=Revisions to the Classification, Nomenclature, and Diversity of Eukaryotes | date=26 September 2018| last1=Adl | first1=Sina M. | last2=Bass | first2=David | last3=Lane | first3=Christopher E. | last4=Lukeš | first4=Julius | last5=Schoch | first5=Conrad L. | last6=Smirnov | first6=Alexey | last7=Agatha | first7=Sabine | last8=Berney | first8=Cedric | last9=Brown | first9=Matthew W. | last10=Burki | first10=Fabien | last11=Cárdenas | first11=Paco | last12=Čepička | first12=Ivan | last13=Chistyakova | first13=Lyudmila | last14=Del Campo | first14=Javier | last15=Dunthorn | first15=Micah | last16=Edvardsen | first16=Bente | last17=Eglit | first17=Yana | last18=Guillou | first18=Laure | last19=Hampl | first19=Vladimír | last20=Heiss | first20=Aaron A. | last21=Hoppenrath | first21=Mona | last22=James | first22=Timothy Y. | last23=Karnkowska | first23=Anna | last24=Karpov | first24=Sergey | last25=Kim | first25=Eunsoo | last26=Kolisko | first26=Martin | last27=Kudryavtsev | first27=Alexander | last28=Lahr | first28=Daniel J.G. | last29=Lara | first29=Enrique | last30=Le Gall | first30=Line | journal=The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology | volume=66 | issue=1 | pages=4–119 | pmid=30257078 | pmc=6492006|display-authors=5}}</ref> Suctorians commonly have permanent adhesive organelles, but ''Endosphaera'' cells also exhibit a "perforatium", a temporary structure used for attachment to their host.<ref name="Dovgal-2002">{{cite journal|last=Dovgal|first=Igor V.|title=Evolution, phylogeny and classification of Suctorea (Ciliophora)|journal=Protistology|date=2002|volume=2|issue=4|pages=194–270|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/evolution-phylogeny-and-classification-of-suctorea-ciliophora|access-date=5 September 2025}}</ref> They lack the typical stalks or tentacles found in other suctorians.<ref name="Basson-2006">{{cite book|last1=Basson|first1=Linda|last2=As|first2=Jo van|title=Fish diseases and disorders. Volume 1: protozoan and metazoan infections|chapter=Trichodinidae and other ciliophorans (phylum Ciliophora)|publisher=CABI|publication-place=UK|date=2006|isbn=978-0-85199-015-6|doi=10.1079/9780851990156.0154|chapter-url=https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1079/9780851990156.0154|access-date=5 September 2025|page=154–182}}</ref> Their life cycle is characterized by a free-swimming infective stage, or swarmer, and an adult intracellular stage that infects other ciliates.<ref name="Esteban-1991">{{cite journal|last1=Esteban|first1=Genoveva|last2=Téllez|first2=Carmen|last3=Muñoz|first3=Amparo|title=Infraciliature, Morphogenesis and Life Cycle of ''Endosphaera terebrans'' (Suctoria, Tokophridae)|journal=The Journal of Protozoology|volume=38|issue=5|date=1991|issn=0022-3921|doi=10.1111/j.1550-7408.1991.tb04821.x|pages=483–488|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1991.tb04821.x|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

''Endosphaera'' species are among the most common suctorian symbionts of ciliates in both freshwater and seawater.<ref name="Jankowski-2015">{{cite journal|last=Jankowski|first=A.W.|title=''Irkana'' gen. nov. (Ciliophora, Suctorea), a symbiont of the colonial peritrich ''Carchesium'' in Lake Baikal|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences|volume=319|issue=1|date=2015|pages=40–56|url=https://www.zin.ru/journals/trudyzin/doc/vol_319_1/TZ_319_1_Jankowski_2.pdf|access-date=5 September 2025}}</ref> They are mainly observed as endoparasites or endocommensals of peritrich ciliates, such as the genera ''Trichodina'', ''Trichodinella'' and ''Mantoscyphidia'',<ref name="Basson-2006"/> but also other ciliates such as the vorticellid ''Spongostena'' and the suctorian ''Dendrocometes''.<ref name="Jankowski-2015"/>

==Classification== The genus ''Endosphaera'' was described in 1876 by German-American biologist George Engelmann, initially without designating any species.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Catalogue of the Generic Names of Ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora)|issn=1608-8700|first=Erna|last=Aescht|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285638801_Catalogue_of_the_generic_names_of_ciliates_Protozoa_Ciliophora|journal=Denisia|volume=1|pages=1–350|date=23 February 2001}}</ref> Later, four species were described, distinguished by the morphology of their swarmer stage: ''E. engelmanni'', ''E. multifiliis'', ''E. elisabetharum'', and ''E. terebrans''.<ref name="Esteban-1991"/><ref name="Dovgal-2002"/> In 1978, the family Endosphaeridae was created to accommodate ''Endosphaera''<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jankowski|first=A.V.|title=Phylogeny and divergence of suctorians|journal=Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR|volume=242|pages=493–496|date=1978}}</ref><ref name="Adl-2019"/> and two similar genera, ''Parendosphaera'' and ''Acoelophthirius''.<ref name="Dovgal-2002"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

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Category:Ciliate genera Category:Taxa described in 1876 Category:Phyllopharyngea