Echinostelium
Genus of slime moulds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Echinostelium is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the monotypic family Echinosteliaceae,[1] or Echinosteliidae.[2] It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main.[3] Some species of Echinostelium have a sexual life cycle; others have been shown to be asexual.[4] The plasmodium can divide vegetatively, in a process called plasmotomy, to distinguish it from true cell division.[5]
| Echinostelium | |
|---|---|
| |
| Echinostelium minutum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Supergroup: | Amorphea |
| Phylum: | Amoebozoa |
| Class: | Myxogastria |
| Order: | Echinosteliales |
| Family: | Echinosteliaceae |
| Genus: | Echinostelium De Bary, 1855 |
| Type species | |
| Echinostelium minutum De Bary, 1855 | |
Species
The genus Echinostelium comprises at least five species:[6]
- Echinostelium apitectum K. D. Whitney, 1980
- Echinostelium colliculosum K. D. Whitney & H. W. Keller, 1980
- Echinostelium corynophorum K. D. Whitney, 1980
- Echinostelium fragile Nannenga-Bremekamp, 1961
- Echinostelium minutum De Bary in Rostafinsky, 1874
