Coccidia

A subclass of important protozoa (class Sporozoea, phylum Apicomplexa) in which the mature trophozoites are small and typically intracellular; schizogony and sporogony can occur in the same host, in contrast to the gregarines (subclass Gregarinia of class Sporozoea), which have large extracellular trophozoites in various invertebrates and do not reproduce by schizogony. SYN: Coccidiasina. [Mod. L., fr. G. kokkos, berry]

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coc·cid·ia käk-'sid-ē-ə n pl

1) cap a large order of schizogonic telosporidian sporozoans typically parasites of the digestive epithelium of vertebrates and higher invertebrates and including several forms of great economic importance see CRYPTOSPORIDIUM, EIMERIA, HAEMOGREGARINA, ISOSPORA

2) sporozoans of the order Coccidia

coc·cid·i·al (')käk-'sid-ē-əl adj

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Coc·cid·ia (kok-sidґe-ə) [Gr. kokkos berry] a subclass of parasitic protozoa (class Sporozoea, phylum Apicomplexa) found in many vertebrates and invertebrates, causing coccidiosis. Their life cycle involves merogony, gametogony, and sporogony, and gamonts are usually present, with mature gamonts being small and typically intracellular, without an epimerite or mucron. Syzygy does not usually occur, but if it does, it involves anisogamous gametes. The subclass comprises three orders: Agamococcidiida, Protococcidiida, and Eucoccidiida.