''Echinostelium'' is a genus of

slime mould Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to a polyphyletic assemblage of unrelated eukaryotic organisms in the Stramenopiles, Rhizaria, Discoba, Amoebozoa and Holomycota clades. Most are near-microscopic; those in the Myxogastria ...

, and the only genus 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 "unisp ...

family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by

Heinrich Anton de Bary Heinrich Anton de Bary (26 January 183119 January 1888) was a German surgeon, botanist, microbiologist, and mycologist (fungal systematics and physiology). He is considered a founding father of plant pathology (phytopathology) as well as the fou ...

in 1855, apparently near

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexual life cycle; others have been shown to be asexual. The plasmodium can divide

vegetatively Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is a form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or Cutting (plant), cutting of the parent pl ...

, in a process called ''plasmotomy'', to distinguish it from true

cell division Cell division is the process by which a parent cell (biology), cell divides into two daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle in which the cell grows and replicates its chromosome(s) before dividing. In eukar ...

Species

The genus ''Echinostelium'' comprises at least five species: *'' Echinostelium apitectum'' K. D. Whitney, 1980 *'' Echinostelium colliculosum'' K. D. Whitney & H. W. Keller, 1980 *'' Echinostelium corynophorum'' K. D. Whitney, 1980 *''

Echinostelium fragile ''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mold, slime mould, and the only genus in the monotypic family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echi ...

'' Nannenga-Bremekamp, 1961 *''

Echinostelium minutum ''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the monotypic family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echinostelium ha ...

'' De Bary ''in'' Rostafinsky, 1874

References

Myxogastria Myxogastria genera {{Amoebozoa-stub