''Rhizamoeba'' is a small genus of free-living
marine naked
lobose amoebae
An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopo ...
in the
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
family Rhizamoebidae
in the order
Leptomyxida
Leptomyxida is an order of Amoebozoa.
It includes species such as '' Flabellula citata'', '' Paraflabellula hoguae'', '' Paraflabellula reniformis'', '' Rhizamoeba saxonica'' and '' Leptomyxa reticulata''.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of Leptomyxida ...
.
It is most closely related to ''
Leptomyxa'' and ''
Flabellula'', and some species have been moved to ''
Leptomyxa'' due to molecular data.
Morphology
Members of ''Rhizamoeba'' are characterized by their morphology when they move, which is usually monopodial (with a single ramification), alternating between a slug-like shape and a fan shape. They have either one
nucleus
Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
* Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucl ...
or multiple (less than 50) nuclei.
Classification
The
paraphyly of the genus caused the transfer of two previously rhizamoeban species into ''
Leptomyxa'': ''
R. australiensis'' and ''
R. neglecta''. As a result, only 3 species are currently confirmed as ''Rhizamoeba'':
* ''
Rhizamoeba saxonica''
* ''
Rhizamoeba polyura''
* ''
Rhizamoeba matisi''
Other possible species are not yet confirmed due to lack of published data or poor documentation.
Some of these are: ''
R. schnepfii'' (considered ''
nomen dubium'' since it has not been deposited to any culture collection), ''
Trichamoeba caerulea'' and ''
Trichamoeba clava'' (both transferred to ''Rhizamoeba'' in 1980 but poorly documented), ''
Amoeba clavarioides'' (identified as ''R. clavarioides'' through light microscopy), ''
Polychaos timidum'' (identified as ''R. timidum'' through light microscopy
), etc.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4689919
Amoebozoa genera