There are two major genera included here, divided into species mainly based on the structure of the scales. Mallomonas are free-living individual cells, usually 50-100 μm in length. They have ornate scales and generally long spines. Synura occur as spherical colonies, with the cells oriented so that the flagella point outwards, each usually around 30 μm in length. The colonies are globular, rather than hollow, and spines are short if at all present. Both are common plankton in lakes and ponds.
The synurids were originally included in the order Ochromonadales as the family Mallomonadaceae. They were formally defined as a separate group by Andersen in 1987, who placed them in their own class Synurophyceae, based on an earlier suggestion by Cavalier-Smith.
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