| Echinostelium | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Amoebozoa |
| Phylum: | Mycetozoa |
| Class: | Myxogastria |
| Order: | Echinosteliales |
| Family: | Echinosteliaceae / Echinosteliidae |
| Genus: | Echinostelium De Bary, 1855 |
| Type species | |
| Echinostelium minutum De Bary, 1855 |
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Echinostelium is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae,[1] or Echinosteliidae.[2] It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main.[3] It has an "apogamic" life cycle; only minute plasmodia are produced, which have never been seen to undergo sexual fusion. The plasmodium can divide vegetatively, in a process called plasmotomy, to distinguish it from true cell division.[4] The genus Echinostelium comprises at least five species:[5]
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