 The cells are free-living, with no chloroplasts, and in some genera are encased in a lorica.The name of the type genus "Bicosoeca" described by James-Clark in 1866 is derived from Greek roots ("bikos", vase, bowl, plus "oekein", inhabit).The philologically preferable compound would be "Bicoeca", as "corrected" by Stein in 1878 and followed by most subsequent authors.