Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 17, 2026

Developayellaceae

Developeans or developayellids are a group of predatory single-celled eukaryotes. They are classified as the family Developayellaceae, the only family in the order Developayellales which is in turn the sole order in the class Developea, part of the stramenopiles. All known members consume bacteria as prey, except for the genus Develorapax, which consumes other eukaryotes.

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Jun 17, 2026
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Developayellaceae
Light and transmission electron microscopy images of Develorapax marinus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Sar
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Bigyromonadea
Class: Developea
Aleoshin et al., 2016
Order: Developayellales
Cavalier-Smith, 1997
Family: Developayellaceae
Cavalier-Smith, 1997
Type genus
Developayella
Tong, 1995
Genera1
  • Cubaremonas
  • Develocanicus
  • Develocauda
  • Developayella
  • Develorapax
  • Mediocremonas
Synonyms
  • Bigyromonadea Cavalier-Smith, 1997
  • Developayellida Cavalier-Smith, 2018
  • Developayellidae Cavalier-Smith, 2018

Developeans2 or developayellids3 are a group of predatory single-celled eukaryotes. They are classified as the family Developayellaceae1 (or Developayellidae in zoological nomenclature), the only family in the order Developayellales4 (or Developayellida in zoological nomenclature) which is in turn the sole order in the class Developea,5 part of the stramenopiles. All known members consume bacteria as prey, except for the genus Develorapax, which consumes other eukaryotes.6

Taxonomy

The first known genus of developayellids, Developayella, was described in 1995. Due to many similarities shared with opalinids and heterokont algae, it was considered a member of the stramenopiles,7 a diverse group of protists distinguished by two unequally sized flagella, one of which has tripartite mastigonemes (hair-like structures).8

In 1997, Thomas Cavalier-Smith proposed Developayella as the evolutionary link between pseudofungi and opalinids, and described higher taxon ranks to accommodate this genus: family Developayellaceae, order Developayellales, and class Bigyromonadea, in the stramenopile phylum Bigyra.9 The concept of 'bigyromonad' was later expanded to include the class Pirsonea, another group of phagotrophic stramenopiles.1011

In 2016, a second genus Develorapax was described, and the class Developea was created to accommodate both genera.12 In 2018, Cavalier-Smith validated the order- and family-level names for this group under zoological nomenclature: Developayellida and Developayellidae, respectively.11 The group was further expanded in 2020 and 2022 with the description of four new genera: Mediocremonas,13 Develocauda, Develocanicus and Cubaremonas.6

References

References

  1. Developayellaceae Cavalier-Smith, 1997 . Retrieved through: Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera on 7 April 2026.
  2. Prokina, Kristina I.; Yubuki, Naoji; Tikhonenkov, Denis V.; Ciobanu, Maria Christina; López‐García, Purificación; Moreira, David (2024). "Refurbishing the marine parasitoid order Pirsoniales with newly (re)described marine and freshwater free‐living predators". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 71 (6) e13061. doi:10.1111/jeu.13061. ISSN 1066-5234. PMC 11603286. PMID 39350673.
  3. Weston, Elizabeth J.; Eglit, Yana; Simpson, Alastair G.B. (2023). "Kaonashia insperata gen. et sp. nov., a eukaryotrophic flagellate, represents a novel major lineage of heterotrophic stramenopiles". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 71 (1) e13003. doi:10.1111/jeu.13003. PMID 37803921.
  4. Developayellales . Retrieved through: Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera on 8 April 2026.
  5. Developea . Retrieved through: Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera on 8 April 2026.
  6. Cho, Anna; Tikhonenkov, Denis V.; Hehenberger, Elisabeth; Karnkowska, Anna; Mylnikov, Alexander P.; Keeling, Patrick J. (2022). "Monophyly of diverse Bigyromonadea and their impact on phylogenomic relationships within stramenopiles" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 171 (107468) 107468. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107468. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 35358688. S2CID 247815732.
  7. Tong, Susan M. (1995). "Developayella elegans nov. gen., nov. spec., a new type of heterotrophic flagellate from marine plankton". European Journal of Protistology. 31 (1): 24–31. doi:10.1016/S0932-4739(11)80352-4.
  8. Jirsová, Dagmar; Wideman, Jeremy G (8 January 2024). "Integrated overview of stramenopile ecology, taxonomy, and heterotrophic origin". The ISME Journal. 18 (1) wrae150. doi:10.1093/ismejo/wrae150. ISSN 1751-7362. PMC 11412368. PMID 39077993.
  9. Cavalier-Smith, T. (1997). "Sagenista and bigyra, two phyla of heterotrophic heterokont chromists". Archiv für Protistenkunde. 148 (3): 253–267. doi:10.1016/S0003-9365(97)80006-1.
  10. Cavalier-Smith, Thomas; Chao, Ema E-Y. (22 March 2006). "Phylogeny and Megasystematics of Phagotrophic Heterokonts (Kingdom Chromista)". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 62 (4): 388–420. doi:10.1007/s00239-004-0353-8. ISSN 0022-2844.
  11. Cavalier-Smith, Thomas (5 September 2017). "Kingdom Chromista and its eight phyla: a new synthesis emphasising periplastid protein targeting, cytoskeletal and periplastid evolution, and ancient divergences". Protoplasma. 255 (1): 297–357. doi:10.1007/s00709-017-1147-3. PMC 5756292. PMID 28875267.
  12. Aleoshin, Vladimir V.; Mylnikov, Alexander P.; Mirzaeva, Gulnara S.; Mikhailov, Kirill V.; Karpov, Sergey A. (3 August 2016). "Heterokont Predator Develorapax marinus gen. et sp. nov. – A Model of the Ochrophyte Ancestor". Frontiers in Microbiology. 7 1194. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.01194. PMC 4971089. PMID 27536283.
  13. Weiler, Bradley A.; Sà, Elisabet L.; Sieracki, Michael E.; Massana, Ramon; del Campo, Javier (2 September 2020). "Mediocremonas mediterraneus, a New Member within the Developea". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 68 (1). doi:10.1111/jeu.12825. ISSN 1066-5234.
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