Unikaryonidae

The type species is P. hyperparasitica (Codreanu-Balcescu and Codreanu, 1982) hyperparasitic in the gregarine Enterocystis rhitrogenae in the intestine of nymphs of Rhithrogena semicolourata (Ephemeroptera). Some details of its ultrastructure and development are given by Codreanu-Balcescu (1997) but there are no illustrations. Monomorphic, monokaryotic throughout life cycle. Meiosis unknown. Transmission unknown. Merogony: plasmodia with 2-4 nuclei, in direct contact with gregarine cytoplasm divide into uninucleate progeny. Sporogony: after deposition of surface coat, sporont mother cells give rise to 4 sporonts which become enclosed in a parasitophorous vacuole. Sporonts become multinucleate plasmodia and divide in rosette formation into 12-16 spores. Secretory products in the form of curved granular fragments in the vacuole are deposited on the surface of sporoblasts and spores. Spores: 2.9 x 1.1 µm are pyriform - conical, the polaroplast is vacuolar-lamellar and the polar tube is isofilar with 3 coils.