[1] H. zschokkei does not require oxygen to survive and is notable for being one of the few multicellular organisms in the animal kingdom to rely on an exclusively anaerobic metabolism.

[4][5] Henneguya zschokkei is found in fish as an ovoid spore with two anterior polar capsules and two long caudal appendages.

[10] H. zschokkei is ultimately a highly derived cnidarian and is distantly related to jellyfish, sea anemones and corals.

However, this obligate internal parasite so little resembles cnidarians (let alone other multicellular animals) that it, along with many other species in the class Myxosporea, were initially categorized as protozoa.

[4] One hypothesis put forward to explain the highly unusual habit of H. zschokkei and its fellow myxosporeans invokes the cancers of cnidarians.