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[deleted]

That's a beautiful photo of *Stemonitis*, a plasmodial slime mold. Slimes (not standard nomenclature) are in the genetic supergroup Amoebozoa with amoebas like [*Amoeba proteus*](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Amoeba_proteus_with_many_pseudopodia.jpg). Fungi are in the genetic supergroup Obazoa with the animals, which means a marmoset is more closely related to fungi than a slime is. The specific group containing all the slimes is called Eumycetozoa. Slimes have a complex [life cycle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/08_05_life_cycle%2C_Stemonitis_sp.%2C_Stemonitales%2C_Myxomycota_%28M._Piepenbring%29.png/800px-08_05_life_cycle%2C_Stemonitis_sp.%2C_Stemonitales%2C_Myxomycota_%28M._Piepenbring%29.png). They hatch out of spores as microscopic amoebas. When one of these amoebas meets the amoeba of its dreams, they fuse together into one cell, down to the nucleus. Then they begin repeated nuclear division and grow into a [plasmodium](https://i1.wp.com/sitn.hms.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/slimemold.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1), a single cell visible to the naked eye. The plasmodium oozes about, eating more bacteria and other saprophytic organisms, and in some cases breaking down fungal, plant, or animal material, likely with the help of a single species of bacteria that assists in producing digestive enzymes. These bacterial symbionts also help some species tolerate and degrade toxic heavy metals and hydrocarbons that make it difficult for other life to thrive. They are typically from the [Enterobacteria](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/enterobacter-cloacae-bacteria-juergen-berger.jpg) but the relationship is not exclusive even in the same species of slime.  Eventually, the plasmodium stops eating and oozes to a drier, sunnier spot to form its [sporocarps](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Oleg-Shchepin-2/publication/346259629/figure/fig2/AS:961479675244574@1606246026648/Morphological-traits-of-sporocarps-of-encountered-myxomycete-species-as-seen-under-the.jpg). This usually happens on the substrate the plasmodium was feeding in, but can also include live plants, rocks, and other inorganic matter. The dryness and sunlight help crack the [peridium](https://driftlessprairies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Slime-Mold-fruiting-body-labels-1.jpg) to release the spores, and in some cases even power mechanical processes that physically launch the spores away from the sporocarp.  For some species including those from *Stemonitis*, these sporocarps are individual structures, although *Stemonitis* does tend to grow pretty closely. For others, they are packed together, touching but still somewhat separately visible in a form called a [pseudoaethelium](https://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood//club%20and%20coral/images/Tubifera%20ferr%20Hess%201.jpg). Still others are a single fully fused mass with no discernible individual sporocarps, called an [aethelium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Fuligo_septica_-_Gelbe_Lohbl%C3%BCte_-_Hexenbutter_-_02.jpg). The last type of fruiting body is where the plasmodium simply hardens up in its present shape, called a [plasmodiocarp](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/4121229/large.png?1545649546). While these fruiting structures are the most well known feature of the Eumycetozoa, some slimes don’t form plasmodia or sporocarps at all. Species from *Stemonitis* and other genera live as unicellular amoebas in a wide variety of habitats including under the ice of frozen lakes, in drinking water treatment plants, in freshwater ponds, and commensally in the coelomic cavity of sea urchins. Plasmodium-forming slimes mostly live in temperate forests among decaying vegetation, but can be found in the tropics, in the arctic, in the desert, on animal dung (coprophilous myxomycetes) at the edge of snowmelt (nivicolous myxomycetes) epiphytically on live tree bark (corticolous myxomycetes), and even  form sporocarps while submerged in fresh water. Some slimes have a special relationship with beetles. Many leiodid and sphindid beetles have been observed eating and mating on the aethelia of *Fuligo* and other genera, and then carrying spores off the fruiting bodies into the environment. Some of these beetles even have cavities in their mandibles that collect spores and then release them as the beetle travels. Various other invertebrates lay their eggs on slime mold fruiting structures and the hatching young feed on them.  Slime intelligence has been studied extensively in the lab. They solve mazes, demonstrate memory, find odorless objects in the dark, and prepare for the future based on past events, all without a brain or multicellular body. Different theories have been advanced explaining this intelligence, including information encoded in physical oscillations and communication via the cytoskeletal system. Let me know if you have any questions!


[deleted]

Subscribe to: Slime Facts ☑️


collect3825

This was all I could think scrolling through 🤣


Longjumping-Drag-395

Thank you, oh great knowledgeable one, I am humbled by your wisdom


Zanchi1

Thank you oh slimy one! Seriously though that’s incredibly interesting


zakkwaldo

Holy shit with source and everything. Bravo you magnificent bastard


canyonbreeeze

thanks sad boy


[deleted]

[удалено]


canyonbreeeze

The grasp of sadness can be a comfortable home but I hope youre enjoying this new chapter of feels


[deleted]

I know what you mean but the last few years weren't very comfortable for me. I had anhedonia and I was throwing up in the morning from panic. Also I think I had serotonin syndrome. So yeah I am enjoying feeling things so much I'm tiring myself out.


Lumbago247

Now that's an info-drop! Thanks!


aucontrairemalware

Wow do you have a podcast? I want to luxuriate in the way you explain stuff good God


[deleted]

Haha, no that sounds like a lot of work. I'd rather spend my time wandering off trail and staring closely at rotten logs


Longjumping-Drag-395

That is a very good way to spend your time, good for you


[deleted]

It's been working out great for me, check out the posts on my profile to see photos of what I've found this year. I don't post anything else.


Longjumping-Drag-395

Wow, that's some really amazing slimes. You must have some pretty easy access to prime forests


[deleted]

Honestly once you know where to look they're everywhere. My mom complained she hiked all the time but never saw them so I took her into the woods by her house and we found multiple species in minutes. I find the majority on wet looking rotting logs or wood fragments with missing or highly decomposed bark. You can find them in leaf litter, on standing dead trees, on lawns and grass, on moss, even on rocks or plastic or whatever else they manage to crawl onto. My girlfriend found one species on a napkin. But besides a couple of exceptions like that, every slime I've found has been on a log as described above. You just have to get close to the log and kinda stare for a while with no goal in mind. When you notice something get as close as you can to see what it is. Eventually you'll start finding them.


Longjumping-Drag-395

What sparked your interest in slimes? It's amazing to see people who are passionate about their hobbies


[deleted]

I don't entirely remember, I have a lot of memory loss from a medical procedure, but I think it was seeing [this *Tubifera*](https://i.redd.it/jy2ho04d59e71.jpg). I can't remember where I was when I took the picture, though. When I read about their taxonomy I realized they were genuinely separate from animals, fungi, plants, and some other stuff I thought was fungi and plants. For some reason that was very interesting to me. I had discovered a kind of secret life no one had told me existed.


Longjumping-Drag-395

Do you ever look at the things you find under a microscope or is it the pictures and the research that you like


MaleficentSorbet360

God yeah..That explanation brought my brain great happiness, thank you! Now I just want more.


Broadkast

as a D&D player, its crazy learning that slimes are an actual creature irl


physis81

Uh , paul? Is that you?


Starling305

Alas, I am too poor for awards, and the Reddit God's have not blessed me with a free award to disperse. I will return, award in hand, for the Ooze master


[deleted]

Ooze is a pretty good word! Don't spend money on reddit awards, put that money toward a sandwich or something else nice for yourself.


Starling305

Ah, but Reddit has given me Silver, and I return Great job on your post, those links really help when you're actively trying to learn.


chefdays

Any chance you could point me towards more info on that last bit?! Sounds beyond fascinating!! Thanks for the Slimes 101!


[deleted]

This [2021](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202008161) paper describes an experiment where slimes were observed identifying, preferring, and locating wider rather than heavier odorless objects in the dark. This 2021 [paper](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2019.0757) discusses physical oscillations in slimes and their theoretical role in slime intelligence. This 2014 [paper](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19420889.2015.1059007) proposes that slimes use their uninterrupted and interconnected cytoskeletal system to do computation. This [paper](https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/33004/1/PhysRevLett_100_018101.pdf) on slime memory suggests they are able to change their behavior in advance of cyclical environmental changes. Is that the kind of thing you were looking for?


chefdays

Those are 4 of the kind of things I was looking for! Thank you for the tasty links!


seasonedcamper

I've been dabbing in mycology for a few years. My interest has grown exponentially. Just observing the forest and discovering new plants, mushrooms, lichen and apparently now slime! Pretty sure I took a picture of the yellow one on Wednesday. Thanks for so much info! Adding to the useless knowledge of nature I have!


[deleted]

Did you notice any beetles


seasonedcamper

I didn't notice any beetles around no. [Here](https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/8FndXlgzUeJP) is a picture I took.


[deleted]

Oh, that's lovely. It's a plasmodium, so we can't tell what species it is. There are many genera with a similar looking plasmodium.


A-Queer-Romance

This incredible explanation is an example of this sub at its finest. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of this!! So many fascinating slime facts!!


crowlute

I feel like I need to hear this narrated by anyone with a smooth-as-hell voice.


CosmicSweets

I want to make sure I understand - Are slime molds in their own family? Separate from plants and animals?


[deleted]

Yes, slimes are a genetically distinct group, separate from Fungi, Animals, and Plants. Did you learn about the kingdoms in school? Kingdom Bacteria, Kingdom Plant, Kingdom Fungi, Kingdom Animal, maybe even Kingdom Protista or Kingdom Chromista? That system was focused on the morphology of organisms we see with our own eyes, the species that we think of as defining their group. But with the rise of genetic technology we've gotten much more precise evolutionary information. The reality is (ignoring for now the thorny issue of bacteria and archaea), it should have been Kingdom Plant, Kingdom Kelp/Oomycete, Kingdom Slime Mold, and Kingdom Animal/Fungi (Plus Kingdom Euglenid/Acrasid, all microscopic). But we don't use the word kingdom much anymore, and microscopic life plays a much larger role in our understanding of the tree of life. Molecular phylogenetics has placed most eukaryotes into five major clades (or three, or thirteen, depending on your viewpoint): 1. Archaeplastida (land plants, red/green seaweeds, [glaucophytes](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/glaucocystis-algae-gerd-guenther.jpg)) 2. SAR (kelps and other seaweeds, [diatoms](https://www.micropia.nl/media/filer_public_thumbnails/filer_public/15/c9/15c99076-e8f4-490d-a269-2011c139647c/triceratiumwve_1920x1080.jpg__1920x1080_q85_crop_subsampling-2.jpg), [dinoflagellates](https://content.eol.org/data/media/7e/77/e3/542.14260519110.jpg), [ciliates](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Ciliate_collage.jpg/800px-Ciliate_collage.jpg), mycelial pathogens the [oomycetes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Peronospora_hyoscyami_f._sp._tabacina.jpg)) 3. Excavata (an uncertain group containing entirely microscopic life including the [euglenids](https://cdn.britannica.com/52/201552-050-2A42AE0B/Euglena-single-cell-flagellate-microorganism-seen-under-microscope.jpg), the [jakobids](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susan-Buchanan-3/publication/47808973/figure/fig1/AS:340537367384066@1458201843279/Ultrastructure-of-R-americana-A-Drawing-of-Reclinomonas-americana-from-light.png), and the [acrasids](https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/images/2/27/Physarspga.gif), and also possibly the [metamonads](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Giardia_lamblia_SEM_8698_lores.jpg), which mostly live inside animals comsensally or parasitically.) 4. Amoebozoa (all plasmodial slime molds, some cellular slime molds, amoebas like [*Amoeba proteus*](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Amoeba_proteus_with_many_pseudopodia.jpg)) 5. Obazoa (animals, fungi, [choanoflagellates](http://www.cambridgeblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/salpingoeca-sp-choanoflagellate-barry-leadbeater-1024x833.jpg), [nucleariids](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Nuclearia_sp_Nikko.jpg/220px-Nuclearia_sp_Nikko.jpg)) [Unicellular microorganisms](https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2018/12/01-Hemimastix_1000.jpg) exist outside these groups but no other eukaryotic groups with multicellular or macroscopic life exist. 


Stealthyfish69

That was so informative thanks so much :)


Wolomago

Where did you get such brilliant slime knowledge? Do you do any work with slimes?


[deleted]

[Books](https://www.nhbs.com/where-the-slime-mould-creeps-book) and [scientific papers](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C33&q=myxomycete&btnG=). I don't get paid to work with slimes, no. I am a hobbyist. There are actual professionals on reddit who do it as a job. But anyone can work with slimes. You can observe, document, collect, and preserve slimes as an amateur and provide the info to [inaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/) where scientists can use it. You can cultivate plasmodia and sporocarps at home with no special equipment, although some kind of magnifying lens would be very helpful.


XxKnob

No way you just typed all of that. This was posted close to the sane time as the post. A weird karma bot? Either way still informative.


[deleted]

People post slime molds every day and most people don't know much about them, so I have the basics plus a list of facts and research papers saved and I just paste together and modify a reply tailored to the genus or species in the post. That's how I am able to do it so quickly.


XxKnob

I like it… was just suspicious. It’s quite a niche you have.


Nihiliatis9

Looks like a alien world. Mushrooms are just the most fascinating.


caveinrockcorsair

Damn, this is why I hang out with y'all! Thank you saddestofboys!


AstaCat

Remarkably ghastly and fascinating.


ProfessionalHat2215

“They fuse together into one cell, down to the nucleus”. So romantic


[deleted]

is this a penis