Unicellular opisthokonts include relevant eukaryotic lineages from an evolutionary and an ecological point of view. In our study we analyzed the 18S rDNA and rRNA V4 region of the unicellular opisthokonts (excluding fungi). Sequences were obtained by high-throughput methods from the European coast in the context of the BioMarKs project. We described the abundance and the distributions of the studied organisms in different sampling points and size fractions. Furthermore the ratio RNA:DNA allowed us to determine the most active groups. By using pysosequencing we had access to the less abundant and rare unicellular opisthokonts of the community. Using a curated reference database we properly placed the sequences retrieved in the opisthokonts tree, describing new diversity and identifying some groups not previously reported in marine environments. High-throughput sequencing techniques successfully increase our knowledge on the diversity of unicellular opisthokonts, its geographical distribution and possible ecological role.