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Euglena is a genus of single cell flagellate eukaryotes. It is the best known and most widely studied member of the class Euglenoidea, a diverse group containing some 54 genera and at least 200 species. [1] [2] Species of Euglena are found in fresh water and salt water.
The family Euglenaceae is also known by the name Euglenidae. The origin of this dual naming system is because of the history of protists. Euglenids have been treated as both algae and protozoans, which are governed by separate nomenclature codes. [2]
A protist (/ ˈ p r oʊ t ɪ s t /) is any eukaryotic organism (one with cells containing a nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus.The protists do not form a natural group, or clade, since they exclude certain eukaryotes with whom they share a common ancestor; [a] but, like algae or invertebrates, the grouping is used for convenience.
[10] [11] The taxa "animal kingdom" (or kingdom Animalia) and "plant kingdom" (or kingdom Plantae) remain in use by some modern evolutionary biologists. The initial targets of Cavalier-Smith's classification, the protozoa were classified as members of the animal kingdom, [ 12 ] and many algae were regarded as part of the plant kingdom.
Euglenids or euglenoids are one of the best-known groups of eukaryotic flagellates: single-celled organisms with flagella, or whip-like tails.They are classified in the phylum Euglenophyta, class Euglenida or Euglenoidea.
Many protists take the form of single-celled flagellates. Flagella are generally used for propulsion. They may also be used to create a current that brings in food. In most such organisms, one or more flagella are located at or near the anterior of the cell (e.g., Euglena). Often there is one directed forwards and one trailing behind.
Excavates were formerly considered to be included in the now obsolete Protista kingdom. [6] They were distinguished from other lineages based on electron-microscopic information about how the cells are arranged (they have a distinctive ultrastructural identity ). [ 4 ]
Euglena gracilis is a freshwater species of single-celled alga in the genus Euglena. It has secondary chloroplasts , and is a mixotroph able to feed by photosynthesis or phagocytosis . It has a highly flexible cell surface, allowing it to change shape from a thin cell up to 100 μm long to a sphere of approximately 20 μm.