| Arachnula | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Rhizaria |
| Phylum: | Endomyxa |
| Class: | Vampyrellidea |
| Order: | Vampyrellida |
| Family: | Vampyrellidae |
| Genus: | Arachnula Cienkowsky, 1876 [1] |
Arachnula is a genus of amoeboid eukaryotes first described by Leon Cienkowski in 1876. [2]
Its phylogenetic position is a subject of some controversy. David Bass and colleagues considered it to be a vampyrellid within the Endomyxa clade of Rhizaria, [3] and the SSU rDNA sequence isolated from an organism described as Arachnula impatiens is indeed very close to that of the vampyrellid Theratromyxa . [4] The identification of this organism as Arachnula has, however, been questioned; and a separate amoeba identified as Arachnula by Yonas Isaak Tekle and colleagues groups in molecular phylogenies close to the amoebozoans Filamoeba and Flamella . [5] Which of these isolates corresponds to that originally described by Cienkowski is unresolved.
