Description of Baculea
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The type species is B. daphniae Loub¶s and Akbarieh, 1978 in Daphnia pulex (Cladocera, Daphniidae). Monomorphic, monokaryotic throughout life cycle. Meiosis unknown. Transmission unknown. Merogony: meronts lie individually within the lumen of a vacuole bounded by a fine membrane (possibly lying within a cisterna of host endoplasmic reticulum). Multinucleate ribbon shaped meronts give rise to chains of spherical uninucleate daughter meronts, each in their own vacuole interpreted here as a sporophorous vesicle. Sporogony: repeated binary fissions of the sporont within the vesicle give rise to numerous sporoblast mothercells distinguished by the surface coat. These become elongate and divide once to give two sporoblasts. Spores 2.8 - 3.0 x 0.2 µm, are bacilliform and uninucleate. Endospore is poorly developed. Anchoring disc of polar tube is anterolateral. Polaroplast consists of a small stack of membranes, within a vacuole, adjacent to one side only of the polar tube. Polar tube is limited to manubroid region, no coil.
