Members of the genus
Endosphaera are
symbiotic suctorian ciliates. Suctorians commonly have permanent adhesive
organelles, but
Endosphaera cells also exhibit a "perforatium", a temporary structure used for attachment to their host. They lack the typical stalks or tentacles found in other suctorians. Their
life cycle is characterized by a free-swimming infective stage, or swarmer, and an adult intracellular stage that infects other ciliates.
Endosphaera species are among the most common suctorian symbionts of ciliates in both freshwater and seawater. They are mainly observed as endoparasites or endocommensals of
peritrich ciliates, such as the genera
Trichodina,
Trichodinella and
Mantoscyphidia, but also other ciliates such as the vorticellid
Spongostena and the suctorian
Dendrocometes. ==Classification==