Rhynchopus

Rhynchopus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked):	Excavata
Phylum:	Euglenozoa
Class:	Diplonemea
Order:	Diplonemida
Family:	Diplonemidae
Genus:	Rhynchopus; Skuja 1948
Type species
	Rhynchopus amitus; Skuja 1948
Species
	R. amitus Skuja 1948; R. coscinodiscivorus Schnepf 1994; R. euleeides Roy et al. 2007; R. humris Tashyreva et al. 2018; R. littoralensis Kufferath 1950; R. serpens Tashyreva et al. 2018;

Rhynchopus is a genus of flagellate excavates in the class Diplonemea. They usually have flagella of different lengths and a single subapical opening with the flagellar pocket openings and adjacent feeding apparatus merging into one. When food is scarce, mobile flagellated cells are produced, suggesting the presence of a fully flagellated and dispersive phase in the life cycle, serving to distinguish Rhynchopus from Diplonema. Most species are free-living, others are symbionts and R. coscinodiscivorus is an intracellular parasite of diatoms.