Ellobiopsidae-what is it?

[Ben Waggoner]

> Taxacomers:
> I'm processing a dataset of plankton samples from the Indian
> Ocean that has a taxon called Ellobiopsidae. I don't know
> what this is. Is it (possibly) a variant spelling of the
> Gastropod family Ellobiidae? Any clues would be greatly
> appreciated. (None of my general books on plankton taxa have
> any clues.)
> --

I don't have Margulis et al.,  _Handbook of Protoctista_ handy, but as far
as I remember, the Ellobiopsida is a group of protists of rather uncertain
systematic position (they might be dinoflagellate relatives). They live as
epibionts on marine arthropods -- I don't think they're parasitic but will
check. If I remember correctly, the name Ellobiopsida means "earring-like,"
due to their characteristic shape and habit of hanging from arthropods.
Hope that helps. . . I'll look them up and get back to you.

Ben Waggoner
Dept. of Integrative Biology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
bmw at uclink2.berkeley.edu