The family was first described during an investigation of the microbial flora of hot springs in Italy.

The broad end possesses about 20 thin filaments, each that are regularly distributed in a ring.

Inside the envelope is a funnel-shaped protein coat that houses the viral DNA.

[5]The genome of ampullaviruses is linear, double-stranded DNA that is about 23.8 kilobases in length.

The genome contains an estimated 56 or 57 open reading frames that encode for at least six structural proteins.