Yogsothoth is a genus of centrohelid protists, distinguished by the shape and arrangement of their external scales as well as their colonial life strategy.

The genus was named as such due to its tendency to form colonies of cells with rounded plate-like outer scales and outwardly-radiating axopodia, which is visually similar to Lovecraft's description of Yog-sothoth as a conglomeration of glowing spheres.

The proposed taxonomy is as follows, with bolded classifications being described de novo:[1] Yogsothoth is a marine organism found at the shores of warm seas.

The closely-related Raphidiophrys has similar axopodia extending from a scaled central cell, and can use them to prey on other organisms;[3] it's likely that Yogsothoth is predatory as well, given that it is non-photosynthetic.

Each cell is covered in silicaceous oval-shaped plate scales with an axial rib and an inflected margin; they are around 1.3um x 1-3um, with the length varying more by species.

[1] These shared segments were designated as core genetic traits unique to the newly formed taxon Panacanthocystidia.

This substitution could theoretically result in a gene product with reduced function, as it would impact the ribosomal protein by encouraging folding in an unusual manner; however, the exact function of the gene and impact of this substitution is not confirmed.