See text Order Desmothoracida, the desmothoracids, are a group of heliozoan protists, usually sessile and found in freshwater environments.

The adult is a spherical cell around 10-20 μm in diameter surrounded by a perforated organic lorica, or shell, with many radial pseudopods projecting through the holes to capture food.

These are supported by small bundles of microtubules that arise near a point on the nuclear membrane.

Typically, a single lengthened pseudopod will secrete a hollow stalk that attaches the cell to the substrate.

The form of the flagella, the tubular cristae within the mitochondria, and other characters have led to the suggestion that the desmothoracids belong among what is now the Cercozoa.