Katablepharid

The kathablepharids (also called katablepharids) are a group of heterotrophic flagellates (Protists) the first species of which was described by Skuja in 1939 as Kathablepharis phoenikoston, (p. 97). His spelling was challenged because of non-compliance with botanical nomenclatural conditions, hence the alternative spelling Katablepharis. As the organism was heterotrophic and usually regarded as 'protozoan', and to favour stability, Skuja's original spelling has largely prevailed. With an anterior pocket and ejectisomes, the kathablepharids were thought initially to be cryptomonads. There were a variety of differences with Cryptomonas and other typical cryptomonads = cryptophytes, such as the thickness, length, and beat pattern of the flagella, their phagotrophic habitat, differences in the ejectisomes, and various features of their ultrastructure. The distinctive characteristics of the group were established from electron microscopical studies by Clay and Kugrens and Vørs. More recently they have been tentatively grouped with the chromalveolates, or distantly with the cryptophytes