pediglissa pediglissa pediglissa (from ancient greek πέδον 'soil' and french glisser 'to glide') is a subclass of phagotrophic protists that inhabit soil or freshwater habitats. they were defined in 2018 according to phylogenetic analyses that showed a clade containing the orders cercomonadida and glissomonadida. they're the sister group of paracercomonadida. pediglissa scientific classification domain: eukaryota clade: diaphoretickes clade: sar phylum: cercozoa class: sarcomonadea subclass: pediglissacavalier-smith, 2018 orders cercomonadida glissomonadida morphology and behavior pediglissa are biciliate protists that glide on their posterior cilium and have a strong tendency to become amoeboid during feeding, unlike the metromonads. their pseudopodia are more often shaped like rounded lamellae than finger-like or filose pseudopodia, unlike the paracercomonads. their anterior cilium is often well developed, unlike in helkesids, but can be short in glissomonads; it moves with an undulating oar-like beat. the trophic cells (i.e. feeding forms) are naked, without a theca, scales, or perles, unlike in thecofilosea and many freshwater imbricatea. diversity pediglissa includes the majority of known cercozoan soil flagellates, all gliding on a single posterior cilium only: the largely bacterivorous cercomonadida, and the glissomonadida which include pansomonads and the algivorous viridiraptoridae of recent description.