''Rhizamoeba'' is a small genus of free-living
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
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 "unispec ...
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
Nucle ...
or multiple (less than 50) nuclei.
Classification
The
paraphyly
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
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
In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application.
Zoology
In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a s ...
'' 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