Genus Euglypha Dujardin, 1841

Diagnosis: Shell elongate ovoid, pyriform or cylindrical, composed of secreted siliceous, overlapping scales (body scales), usually arranged in longitudinal rows. Aperture surrounded by one or more denticulated scales (oral scales).

Type species. Euglypha tuberculata Dujardin, 1841

Remarks: The scales are siliceous idiosomes, secreted by the cell. These scales vary in shape, size and arrangement from one species to another and are used as a characteristic for identification, together with the cross-section of the shell and the aperture, which is round or elliptical. The cells are usually divided into a highly vacuolar anterior region rich in food vacuoles, a dark band (pigment zone) with cement vesicles and excretion crystals, and a dense compact posterior region, which contains the nucleus surrounded by a dense rough endoplasmatic reticulum. The spherical nucleus is usually single, although in cultures, cells may have two or three (Meisterfeld, 2001).
Euglypha is a large and common genus with numerous species, varieties and forms, many of which are of doubtful identity. Many species are difficult to identify and may be part of species complexes.
In 2001, the genus Scutiglypha was created, but there is no unique characteristic that clearly distinguishes it from Euglypha.

Fig. 1: a-c E. cristata b var. major d E. bryophila e  E. mucronata

Fig. 2: a E. brachiata b E. scutigera c E. acanthophora d-e E. tuberculata

Fig. 3: a–d E. strigosa c var. glabra e–f E. rotunda