Rhizamoeba | |
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Different monopodial shapes of Rhizamoeba (clockwise from top left): worm-like, static, flattened, clavate. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Phylum: | Amoebozoa |
Class: | Tubulinea |
Order: | Leptomyxida |
Family: | Rhizamoebidae |
Genus: | Rhizamoeba Page 1972 em. Smirnov et al. 2016 |
Type species | |
Rhizamoeba polyura Page 1972 | |
Species | |
Rhizamoeba is a small genus of free-living marine naked lobose amoebae in the monotypic family Rhizamoebidae [1] in the order Leptomyxida. [2] [3] It is most closely related to Leptomyxa and Flabellula , and some species have been moved to Leptomyxa due to molecular data. [1]
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 or multiple (less than 50) nuclei. [1]
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: [1]
Other possible species are not yet confirmed due to lack of published data or poor documentation. [1] Some of these are: R. schnepfii Kühn 1996/97 (considered nomen dubium since it has not been deposited to any culture collection), Trichamoeba caerulea Schaeffer 1926 and Trichamoeba clava Schaeffer 1926 (both transferred to Rhizamoeba in 1980 [4] but poorly documented), Amoeba clavarioides Penard 1902 (identified as R. clavarioides through light microscopy [5] ), Polychaos timidum Bovee 1972 (identified as R. timidum through light microscopy [6] ), etc.