Plagiopylida

Plagiopylids
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked):	SAR
Superphylum:	Alveolata
Phylum:	Ciliophora
Class:	Plagiopylea
Order:	Plagiopylida Small & Lynn, 1985
Typical families
Plagiopylidae Sonderiidae

The plagiopylids are a small order of ciliate protozoa, including a few forms common in anaerobic habitats.

The body cilia are dense, and arise from monokinetids with an entirely unique ultrastructure; one or two rows of dikinetids run into the oral cavity, which takes the form of a groove, with a deep tube lined by oral cilia leading to the mouth. The order was introduced by Eugen Small and Denis Lynn in 1985, who treated it as a subclass of Oligohymenophorea. Since then they tend to be treated as an independent class, possibly affiliated with the Colpodea.