Sporozoa

Sporozoa, a class of Protozoa (q.v.), including those which live as parasites within other animals, and which reproduce by the formation of spores resembling in some cases those of some plants. The individuals either have no special organs of locomotion or only some imperfectly developed pseudopodia. The class is divided into four groups - viz. the Gregarinida (q.v.), which live in earthworms, frogs, mollusca, etc.; the Amoebosporidia, which infest beetles; the Sarcosporidia, or "Rainey's corpuscles," which live in the muscles or soft tissues of some mammals and birds; and the Myxosporidia, which are parasitic in fish. The Gregarinida is the best known and most important subclass.