Myxosporea

Myxosporea
Kudoa septempunctata - spores
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Myxozoa
Class: Myxosporea
Buetchli 1881
Orders
Synonyms
  • Actinomyxea
  • Actinosporea

Myxosporea is a class of microscopic animals, all of whom are parasites. They belong to the Myxozoa clade within Cnidaria. They have a complex life cycle that comprises vegetative forms in two hosts—one an aquatic invertebrate (generally an annelid but sometimes a bryozoan) and the other an ectothermic vertebrate, usually a fish. Each parasitized host releases a different type of spore. The two forms of spore are so different that until relatively recently they were treated as belonging to different classes within the Myxozoa.