''Tubifera'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

s from the subclass

Myxogastria Myxogastria/Myxogastrea (myxogastrids, ICZN) or Myxomycetes ( ICN) is a class of slime molds that contains 5 orders, 14 families, 62 genera, and 888 species. They are colloquially known as the ''plasmodial'' or ''acellula ...

. The genus comprises 12 species.

Description

The fruit-bodies are aethalia formed from numerous, usually densely packed

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

. The oblong sporangia are ochre, pink or red to dark brown and may be shiny or shimmering. They open at the tip to release the spores. The

hypothallus In true slime molds (myxogastria), lichens, and in species of the family Clavicipitaceae, the hypothallus is the layer on which the fruit body sits, lying in contact with the substrate. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek root ''hypó'' ("un ...

is spongy, occasionally raised to a stem-like, stock, dark-coloured structure or also, on ''Tubifera bombarda'', soft and film-like thin. The membranous, single layered

peridium The peridium is the protective layer that encloses a mass of spores in fungi. This outer covering is a distinctive feature of gasteroid fungi. Description Depending on the species, the peridium may vary from being paper-thin to thick and rubb ...

outlasts the below half. A pseudocapillitium may or may not be present. The spores are light yellow to reddish-brown.

Habitat

Tubifera ferruginosa ''Tubifera ferruginosa'', more commonly known as ''raspberry slime mold'' or ''red raspberry slime mold'', is a species of slime mold in the class Myxogastria. It is one of the most widely known and distinct slime molds, being found throughout te ...

'' and ''

Tubifera microsperma ''Tubifera microsperma'' is a species of slime mold in the class Myxogastria Myxogastria/Myxogastrea (myxogastrids, ICZN) or Myxomycetes ( ICN) is a class of slime molds that contains 5 orders, 14 families, 62 genera, and 8 ...

'' are more widespread and common than the other species from this genus. All species, except ''Tubifera casparyii'', are also common in the tropics.

Classification

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 1873 by Józef Thomasz Rostafiński. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''Tubifera ferruginosa'', first characterized as a ''

Stemonitis ''Stemonitis'' is a distinctive genus of slime moulds found throughout the world (except Antarctica). They are characterised by the tall brown sporangia, supported on slender stalks, which grow in clusters on rotting wood. The genus was first de ...

'' species.

Species

The genus comprises the following 12 species: * ''

Tubifera applanata ''Tubifera applanata'' is a species of slime mold in the class Myxogastria. It forms 2 to 7 cm wide "pseudoaethelia" (mass of sporangia) that are rust-red in color. They are found growing on damp, dead wood in temperate forests, including where i ...

'' * '' Tubifera casparyii'' * '' Tubifera corymbosa'' * '' Tubifera dictyoderma'' * '' Tubifera dimorphotheca'' * ''

Tubifera dudkae ''Tubifera dudkae'' is a species of slime mold in the class Myxogastria. Unlike its relatives, ''T. dudkae'' does not form pseudoaethelia with distinct sporangia, or at least the sporangia are not visibly distinct or rod-shaped like other members ...

'' * ''

Tubifera magna ''Tubifera'' is a genus of slime moulds from the subclass Myxogastria. The genus comprises 12 species. Description The fruit-bodies are aethalia formed from numerous, usually densely packed sporangia. The oblong sporangia are ochre, pink or r ...

'' * ''

Tubifera montana ''Tubifera'' is a genus of slime moulds from the subclass Myxogastria. The genus comprises 12 species. Description The fruit-bodies are aethalia formed from numerous, usually densely packed sporangia. The oblong sporangia are ochre, pink or r ...

'' * ''

Tubifera papillata ''Tubifera'' is a genus of slime moulds from the subclass Myxogastria. The genus comprises 12 species. Description The fruit-bodies are aethalia formed from numerous, usually densely packed sporangia. The oblong sporangia are ochre, pink or r ...

'' * ''

Tubifera pseudomicrosperma ''Tubifera'' is a genus (biology), genus of slime moulds from the class (biology), subclass Myxogastria. The genus comprises 12 species. Description The fruit-bodies are Aethalium, aethalia formed from numerous, usually densely packed Sporangiu ...

'' File:Tubifera applanata.jpg, ''Tubifera applanata'' File:Tubifera corymbosa-2.jpg, ''Tubifera corymbosa'' File:Tubifera dudkae-1.jpg, ''Tubifera dudkae'' File:Tubifera microsperma 526137.jpg, ''Tubifera microsperma''

Previously included species

* '' Alwisia bombarda'' (as ''Tubifera bombarda'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2458952 Myxogastria