Kiitoksia is a genus of aquatic protist. The taxonomic position of the genus is still uncertain and it has not found a robust location in any subgroup.[3]
Two species are confidently known in the genus: Kiitoksia ystava and Kiitoksia kaloista. K. ystava was first discovered in Tvärminne in the Gulf of Finland. K. kaloista was discovered in Sombre Lake on Signy Island, near Antarctica. A third species, K. parva was transferred from the genus Clautriavia by Smith and Scoble [4]
The Kiitoksia species are single-celled organisms approximately 2-4 micrometres in size and round in shape. The species can be distinguished by their flagella: K. ystava has two flagella, one short and one long, while K. kaloista has one long flagellum.[3][5]
Kiitoksia kaloista, phase contrast light micrograph of living cell, from Lake Crowley, Eastern Sierras (California); debris attached to short flagellum.
^Vørs (1992). "Kiitoksia". WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2013-07-11.
^ abVørs, Naja (1992). "Heterotrophic Amoebae, Flagellates and Heliozoa from the Tvärminne Area, Gulf of Finland, in 1988–1990". Ophelia. 36 (1): 1–109. doi:10.1080/00785326.1992.10429930.
^ Cavalier-Smith, T. & Scoble, J. (2012). Phylogeny of Heterokonta: Incisomonas marina, a uniciliate gliding opalozoan related to Solenicola (Nanomonadea), and evidence that Actinophryida evolved from raphidophytes. European journal of protistology. 49. 10.1016/j.ejop.2012.09.002.
^Tong, S.; Vørs, N.; Patterson, D. J. (1997). "Heterotrophic flagellates, centrohelid heliozoa and filose amoebae from marine and freshwater sites in the Antarctic". Polar Biology. 18 (2): 91–106. doi:10.1007/s003000050163. S2CID38034485.