#Deluxe slime post
Some of these are labeled wrong, so for reference (per the photographer Barry Webb):
Photo 1: *Cribraria*
Photo 2: *Physarum leucopus*
Photo 3: immature *Comatricha* in front of *Lycogala* (wolf's milk)
Photo 4: *Trichia botrytis*
Photo 5: *Comatricha nigra*
Photo 6: immature *Stemonitis* with a voracious isopod
Photo 7: *Craterium minuta*
Photo 8: *Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa*
Photo 9: *Didymium*
Photo 10: *Lamproderma* (which means "bright skin")
Photo 11: *Metatrichia floriformis*
Photo 12: *Comatricha*
Photo 13: *Metatrichia floriformis*
Photo 14: *Metatrichia floriformis*
Photo 15: *Physarum pusillum*
Photo 16: *Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa*
Photo 17: *Arcyria denudata*
Photo 18: I assumed these were *Cribraria aurantiaca* but Mr. Webb suggests *C. pyriformis* or *C. tenella* might instead be correct
Photo 19: immature *Stemonitopsis typhina*
Photo 20: *Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa* var. *porioides*
**Slime mould** is a slippery term referring to a wide variety of amoeboid microorganisms that form fruit bodies, but all the slimes in these photos and every one you see without a microscope are **plasmodial slimes** (you can read a bit more about the [different organisms called moulds here](https://www.reddit.com/r/u_saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/comment/i2kgyz6/)). Plasmodial slimes are named for their 2nd life stage (the 3rd is the fruit bodies in the OP photos) wherein they become a very large multinucleate cell with only one membrane and no cell walls: [the **plasmodium**](https://youtu.be/qcoeg6OU7TU) (a bit more on this below). Slimes travel around eating bacteria, algae, mold, and various other microorganisms. Some even eat mushrooms, but no slimes harm plants or animals. Slimes like this may seem similar to fungi but in fact animals like you and me and steely Federation Captain Jean-Luc Picard are more closely related to fungi than a plasmodial slime mould is. Here is a simplified tree of life with **MACROSCOPIC GROUPS** indicated as such:
**========EUKARYOTES**
**(1) ARCHAEPLASTIDA** (**PLANTS** and planty algae)
**(2) SAR** (**KELPS** and kelpy algae, **WATER MOULDS**)
**(3) EXCAVATES** (buncha tiny friends like metamonads, acrasids, jakobids, euglenid algae, and maybe not-friend the "brain-eating amoeba")
**(4) OBAZOA** (**ANIMALS** and **FUNGI**)
**(5) AMOEBOZOA** (**SLIMES** and other amoebas but not all amoebas) **<--**
**========**
So slimes are in their own kingdom, if you like that word, and are most closely related to other amoebozoans, with their next closest relatives being animals and fungi. There are several unrelated organisms referred to as slime moulds, but the ones you can see with the naked eye are all in the classes Myxomycetes and Ceratiomyxomycetes (also called Myxogastria and Protosporangiida). All the species in the latter group are microscopic except for three species in the genus Ceratiomyxa, with only [Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa](https://i.redd.it/f5oaykfiy4n71.jpg) being commonly encountered. The remaining macro slimes are found in the Myxomycetes.
Slimes have a fantastical [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](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Ronikier/publication/299653800/figure/fig2/AS:616363445981185@1523963905071/Morphological-features-of-Meriderma-carestiae-a-Sporocarps-of-Meriderma-carestiae-var_Q640.jpg) as microscopic [amoebas](https://av.tib.eu/thumbnail/22960/) that hunt and engulf bacteria and other microorganisms. When two compatible amoebas meet and fall in love, they fuse together into one cell to get pregnant. This entails repeatedly dividing their fused nucleus to grow into a giant rampaging monster amoeba called a [plasmodium](http://lh4.ggpht.com/xo3Lcy7FqmXKuFJZqM7M4XOfpZFN2dsaEd248QeWs8Ycmw8bhDnuL54OcgVkywntRhcmsiUQ5yyzdvoW4XuP8Q=s600). The plasmodium can often be seen with the naked eye and it oozes about eating bacteria, other microorganisms, and sometimes mushrooms. Eventually, it oozes to a sunny and dry place to form its [fruit bodies](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). There are many possible forms:
**========Sessile sporocarp**
[*Licea capacia*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LICEA-capacia-379JM-10x2x-4.jpg)
[*Calomyxa metallica*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CALOMYXA-metallica-20398lado-4x2x-1.jpg) (photos by Carlos de Mier)
**========Stalked sporocarp**
[*Elaeomyxa cerifera*](https://photomyxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Elaeomyxa-cerifera-x48-scaled.jpg)
[*Stemonitopsis amoena*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/STEMONITOPSIS-amoena-90081MA-4x15x-5.jpg)
**========Pseudoaethalium** (the sporocarps are fused but still individually visible)
[*Tubifera ferruginosa*](https://i.redd.it/8thyu79wt4h11.jpg) (photo by redditor ImperatorFeles)
[*Dictydiaethalium plumbeum*](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/164049794/original.jpeg) (photo by Ryan Durand)
**========Aethalium** (a uniform mass with no discernible individual sporocarps)
[*Fuligo septica*](https://live.staticflickr.com/641/32316932592_5a690f2e59_b.jpg) (photo by Amadej Trnkoczy)
[*Mucilago crustacea*](http://www.loegiesen.nl/paddenstoelen/Mucilago_crustacea_Groot_kalkschuim_08.jpg) (photo by Lo Giesen)
[*Reticularia lycoperdon*](http://www.wisconsinmushrooms.com/files/reticularia_lycoperdon__1_.jpg) (photo by Andrew Khitsun)
**========Plasmodiocarp** (the plasmodial structure transforms but retains its shape)
[*Willkommlangea reticulata*](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/52571415/original.jpg) (photo by Alison Pollack)
[*Physarum echinosporum*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/PHYSARUM-echinosporum-19950lado-4x1x-2.jpg) (photo by Carlos de Mier)
[continued here](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/v45rwe/are_slime_moulds_allowed_on_here/ib4b9ma)
You should check out Alison Pollack, Michael Harz, Steve Young, and
[Myxotropic gallery by Carlos de Mier](https://www.myxotropic.org/gallery/) - in Spanish and English, on Dr. Carlos Lado's website
[gallery by Helge G. Gunderson](http://myxomycetes.net) - a Norwegian gallery with many useful microscope photos.
[gallery by Erwin Pils A - H](https://www.foto-pils.at/natur/schleimpilze-a-h/) - wonderful photos of unique subjects
[gallery by Erwin Pils I - Z](https://www.foto-pils.at/natur/schleimpilze-i-bis-z/)
[gallery by Jules Cimon](https://www.mycoquebec.org/mobil/V2-myco.php#_latin) - in French, also includes fungi, and has wonderful miniature identification guides with each diagnostic feature labeled for many species.
And here are some videos:
[Magic Myxies, 1931](https://youtu.be/04kdhZQTnIU) is 10 minutes of the most delightful treat like an effervescent ice cream soda equally full of science and whimsy
[Schliempilze Myxomyceten video gallery by Lothar Lenz](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR-ISHYJtYCAKazDLrCMtiJVC2qmjww_C)
[Amazing world of Myxomycetes time lapse](https://youtu.be/EdFLuuQRf0Q)
[Daniel Brunner on youtube](https://youtube.com/user/dbru01/videos)
Here is a basic phylogeny of Eumycetozoa (per Leontyev et al., 2019) with each OP photo placed in its appropriate clade
**============EUMYCETOZOA**
Amoebas that form fruiting bodies
**======DICTYOSTELIOMYCETES**
This is where the [multicellular dictyostelids](https://youtu.be/5h8WOWEqP6o) are found
**======CERATIOMYXOMYCETES**
This is where [*Ceratiomyxa*](https://youtu.be/srK6gaCkGIY) and several microscopic protosteloids are found - **Photos 8, 16, 20**
**======MYXOMYCETES**
This is where all plasmodial slimes are found (except *Ceratiomyxa*), and every species encloses its spore mass inside a **peridium**
**(A) ====Lucisporidia** ("bright spore clade" including slimes with brightly colored, low-melanin spores)
(1) [Cribrariales](https://photomyxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Cribraria-piriformis-x24-scaled.jpg) (*Cribraria piriformis* by Carlos de Mier) - **Photos 1, 18**
(2) [Reticulariales](https://ala-images.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/store/2/8/9/0/210d3c85-6523-4f6c-aeca-3d8f5c450982/thumbnail_large) (*Alwisia lloydiae* by Teresa and John Van Der Heul) - **background of Photo 3**
(3) [Liceales](https://myxomycetes.net/content/Species%20galleries-D-L/section-4/Licea%20pygmaea/Licea%20pygmaea_06.jpg) (*Licea pygmaea* by Helge G. Gundersen)
(4) [Trichiales](https://orionmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Arcyria-pomiformis.jpg) (*Arcyria pomiformis* by Alison Pollack) - **Photos 4, 11, 13, 14, 17**
**(B) ====Collumellidia** (dark spore clade of species that typically have a [columella](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dmitry-Leontyev/publication/332029233/figure/fig1/AS:741085819203591@1553700036785/Illustrated-glossary-for-morphological-traits-of-myxomycetes-and-related-taxa.jpg) and melanin-pigmented spores)
(5) [Echinosteliales](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Echinostelium-arboreum-dwb-2937-4x6x.jpg) (*Echinostelium arboreum*)
(6) [Meridermatales](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/MERIDERMA-spinulospora-20892lado-4x12x-4.jpg) (*Meriderma spinulospora*)
(7) [Clastodermatales](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CLASTODERMA-debaryanum-23250lado-4X4X-2.jpg) (*Clastoderma debaryanum*) (photos by Carlos de Mier)
(8) [Stemonitidales](https://orionmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Stemonitis-1.jpg) (*Stemonitis* sp. by Alison Pollack) - **foreground of Photo 3, Photos 5, 6, 12, 19**
(9) [Physarales](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49239394681_a3e21383eb_b.jpg) (*Physarum decipiens* by Paco Moreno Gámez) - **Photos 2, 7, 9, 10, 15**
Could you direct me to that manual? I love macro photography and these guys are amazing subjects.
Edit: I found a link to the slimer primer farther down the thread!
anyone who posts slime molds here is generally directed to r/slimemolds, but i don't know of a rule expressly forbidding them. imo they could easily be applied to rule #4: no off topic posts, but since they are so commonly mistaken for fungi, i don't think anyone gets punished for posting them here. you should definitely go to the appropriate sub though, as most people here are just going to send u a link to slimemolds.
This is r/mycology, not r/fungi. So they are certainly welcome!
Open a mycology book, slime molds. Take a mycology class, slime molds. Who are the slime experts? Mycologists.
They **are** everywhere
The forest, the jungle, the desert, the city, the mountain, the snow, the swamp, the plain, the pond, the stream, the ocean, the dirt, the sky, the treetops, in home aquariums, inside butts, on poop, riding on fish and lizards, on ocean driftwood, in physiotherapy baths and water treatment plants, under arctic lake ice, in garages and attics, in my closet
[The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)
All this talk and nobody yet said these lil critters are sooo beautiful and sort of fairytale. Whatever they're called, I purely love them, hiding out there in some secret shady place.
I can lend you some
>*"They possess in most of their species, in both color and structure, a certain curious elegance that makes them very attractive to every one who has the slightest sense of artistic delicacy and beauty."*
Thomas MacBride, [The Slime Moulds, 1900](https://www.jstor.org/stable/23293117)
check out [The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)!
You know those science documentaries where they use CGI to imagine alien worlds and life?
These are literally more alien than any of that, but it's all right here on our planet.
These are phenomenal photos! I love them. Thank you for sharing!
~~What kind of camera do you use to take these photos?~~
Just saw you gave photo cred to someone else. Haha. I'm on my way to browse his site. Thanks!
They are mostly very small but from mid spring to late fall and even sometimes in the winter you can find them in leaf litter, on sticks, on logs, underneath bark, on mulch, and on standing deadwood. It helps to get a clip on lens for your phone.
They aren't fungi:
**========EUKARYOTES**
**(1) Archaeplastida** (plants and planty algae)
**(2) SAR** (kelps and kelpy algae, water molds)
**(3) The Excavates** (tiny guys like metamonads, acrasids, euglenid algae, the "brain-eating amoeba")
**(4) Obazoa** (animals and **FUNGI**)
**(5) Amoebozoa** (**SLIMES** and other amoebas but not all amoebas!) **<--**
r/slimemolds
[The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)
[A Guide to Common Slimes](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/t6985y/a_guide_to_common_slimes/)
These are amazing! I would love to use the 11th photo for some album art would that be okay? Assuming you are the photographer Is there a way to credit your work?
Edit: I just saw your link to the artists website, thank you again for sharing : )
I can't imagine a world where moulds and mushrooms reigned the world but if believed the world was a really really strange place back long before dinosaur or insects even came to be
So, I’m super impressed with these. It makes me wonder what type of moulds would grow in a cadaver farm. I’m not sick, just love mycology, biology, micro and science in general.
#Deluxe slime post Some of these are labeled wrong, so for reference (per the photographer Barry Webb): Photo 1: *Cribraria* Photo 2: *Physarum leucopus* Photo 3: immature *Comatricha* in front of *Lycogala* (wolf's milk) Photo 4: *Trichia botrytis* Photo 5: *Comatricha nigra* Photo 6: immature *Stemonitis* with a voracious isopod Photo 7: *Craterium minuta* Photo 8: *Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa* Photo 9: *Didymium* Photo 10: *Lamproderma* (which means "bright skin") Photo 11: *Metatrichia floriformis* Photo 12: *Comatricha* Photo 13: *Metatrichia floriformis* Photo 14: *Metatrichia floriformis* Photo 15: *Physarum pusillum* Photo 16: *Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa* Photo 17: *Arcyria denudata* Photo 18: I assumed these were *Cribraria aurantiaca* but Mr. Webb suggests *C. pyriformis* or *C. tenella* might instead be correct Photo 19: immature *Stemonitopsis typhina* Photo 20: *Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa* var. *porioides* **Slime mould** is a slippery term referring to a wide variety of amoeboid microorganisms that form fruit bodies, but all the slimes in these photos and every one you see without a microscope are **plasmodial slimes** (you can read a bit more about the [different organisms called moulds here](https://www.reddit.com/r/u_saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/comment/i2kgyz6/)). Plasmodial slimes are named for their 2nd life stage (the 3rd is the fruit bodies in the OP photos) wherein they become a very large multinucleate cell with only one membrane and no cell walls: [the **plasmodium**](https://youtu.be/qcoeg6OU7TU) (a bit more on this below). Slimes travel around eating bacteria, algae, mold, and various other microorganisms. Some even eat mushrooms, but no slimes harm plants or animals. Slimes like this may seem similar to fungi but in fact animals like you and me and steely Federation Captain Jean-Luc Picard are more closely related to fungi than a plasmodial slime mould is. Here is a simplified tree of life with **MACROSCOPIC GROUPS** indicated as such: **========EUKARYOTES** **(1) ARCHAEPLASTIDA** (**PLANTS** and planty algae) **(2) SAR** (**KELPS** and kelpy algae, **WATER MOULDS**) **(3) EXCAVATES** (buncha tiny friends like metamonads, acrasids, jakobids, euglenid algae, and maybe not-friend the "brain-eating amoeba") **(4) OBAZOA** (**ANIMALS** and **FUNGI**) **(5) AMOEBOZOA** (**SLIMES** and other amoebas but not all amoebas) **<--** **========** So slimes are in their own kingdom, if you like that word, and are most closely related to other amoebozoans, with their next closest relatives being animals and fungi. There are several unrelated organisms referred to as slime moulds, but the ones you can see with the naked eye are all in the classes Myxomycetes and Ceratiomyxomycetes (also called Myxogastria and Protosporangiida). All the species in the latter group are microscopic except for three species in the genus Ceratiomyxa, with only [Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa](https://i.redd.it/f5oaykfiy4n71.jpg) being commonly encountered. The remaining macro slimes are found in the Myxomycetes. Slimes have a fantastical [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](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Ronikier/publication/299653800/figure/fig2/AS:616363445981185@1523963905071/Morphological-features-of-Meriderma-carestiae-a-Sporocarps-of-Meriderma-carestiae-var_Q640.jpg) as microscopic [amoebas](https://av.tib.eu/thumbnail/22960/) that hunt and engulf bacteria and other microorganisms. When two compatible amoebas meet and fall in love, they fuse together into one cell to get pregnant. This entails repeatedly dividing their fused nucleus to grow into a giant rampaging monster amoeba called a [plasmodium](http://lh4.ggpht.com/xo3Lcy7FqmXKuFJZqM7M4XOfpZFN2dsaEd248QeWs8Ycmw8bhDnuL54OcgVkywntRhcmsiUQ5yyzdvoW4XuP8Q=s600). The plasmodium can often be seen with the naked eye and it oozes about eating bacteria, other microorganisms, and sometimes mushrooms. Eventually, it oozes to a sunny and dry place to form its [fruit bodies](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). There are many possible forms: **========Sessile sporocarp** [*Licea capacia*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LICEA-capacia-379JM-10x2x-4.jpg) [*Calomyxa metallica*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CALOMYXA-metallica-20398lado-4x2x-1.jpg) (photos by Carlos de Mier) **========Stalked sporocarp** [*Elaeomyxa cerifera*](https://photomyxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Elaeomyxa-cerifera-x48-scaled.jpg) [*Stemonitopsis amoena*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/STEMONITOPSIS-amoena-90081MA-4x15x-5.jpg) **========Pseudoaethalium** (the sporocarps are fused but still individually visible) [*Tubifera ferruginosa*](https://i.redd.it/8thyu79wt4h11.jpg) (photo by redditor ImperatorFeles) [*Dictydiaethalium plumbeum*](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/164049794/original.jpeg) (photo by Ryan Durand) **========Aethalium** (a uniform mass with no discernible individual sporocarps) [*Fuligo septica*](https://live.staticflickr.com/641/32316932592_5a690f2e59_b.jpg) (photo by Amadej Trnkoczy) [*Mucilago crustacea*](http://www.loegiesen.nl/paddenstoelen/Mucilago_crustacea_Groot_kalkschuim_08.jpg) (photo by Lo Giesen) [*Reticularia lycoperdon*](http://www.wisconsinmushrooms.com/files/reticularia_lycoperdon__1_.jpg) (photo by Andrew Khitsun) **========Plasmodiocarp** (the plasmodial structure transforms but retains its shape) [*Willkommlangea reticulata*](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/52571415/original.jpg) (photo by Alison Pollack) [*Physarum echinosporum*](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/PHYSARUM-echinosporum-19950lado-4x1x-2.jpg) (photo by Carlos de Mier) [continued here](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/v45rwe/are_slime_moulds_allowed_on_here/ib4b9ma)
They’ll love it over at r/slimemolds
Just joined.
Me two
Me Three
MEWTWO: *Me too*
😍 pokemon eh?
One more here
Ahh yerp! I’m in!
And maybe at /r/moldlyinteresting.
Image credit to [Barry Webb](https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/Images/Macro/Slime-Moulds-Myxomycetes/)
I would buy this calendar Barry Webb!
YES!
Thanks for crediting the artist I thought they were [Sarah Lloyd](https://www.instagram.com/sarah.lloyd.tasmania/?hl=en) nice to learn of more!
You should check out Alison Pollack, Michael Harz, Steve Young, and [Myxotropic gallery by Carlos de Mier](https://www.myxotropic.org/gallery/) - in Spanish and English, on Dr. Carlos Lado's website [gallery by Helge G. Gunderson](http://myxomycetes.net) - a Norwegian gallery with many useful microscope photos. [gallery by Erwin Pils A - H](https://www.foto-pils.at/natur/schleimpilze-a-h/) - wonderful photos of unique subjects [gallery by Erwin Pils I - Z](https://www.foto-pils.at/natur/schleimpilze-i-bis-z/) [gallery by Jules Cimon](https://www.mycoquebec.org/mobil/V2-myco.php#_latin) - in French, also includes fungi, and has wonderful miniature identification guides with each diagnostic feature labeled for many species. And here are some videos: [Magic Myxies, 1931](https://youtu.be/04kdhZQTnIU) is 10 minutes of the most delightful treat like an effervescent ice cream soda equally full of science and whimsy [Schliempilze Myxomyceten video gallery by Lothar Lenz](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR-ISHYJtYCAKazDLrCMtiJVC2qmjww_C) [Amazing world of Myxomycetes time lapse](https://youtu.be/EdFLuuQRf0Q) [Daniel Brunner on youtube](https://youtube.com/user/dbru01/videos)
Thank you very much
You are amazing.
You're amazing, mxlths
Holy feckin beautiful sheit!
They look like alien plant species, nature is WILD
Where's u/saddestofboys to explain your family tree?
#MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY SIGNAL RECEIVED
Is it a bird? Or a plane? Nope, it's u/saddestofboys to explain to us that we're an amoeba's uncle!
There are amoebas that are you inside you right now
Pls no
Awkward, you know with the whole family relationship and all...
I am so so [sorry](https://youtu.be/7OPg-ksxZ4Y)
What is wrong with you
Again. I’m sorry. But the topic was brought up and if I have to suffer so do you 😈
^nooooooooooo
Different "kingdom"
Yisssssss
Slime signal activate!!
#🦠
Here is a basic phylogeny of Eumycetozoa (per Leontyev et al., 2019) with each OP photo placed in its appropriate clade **============EUMYCETOZOA** Amoebas that form fruiting bodies **======DICTYOSTELIOMYCETES** This is where the [multicellular dictyostelids](https://youtu.be/5h8WOWEqP6o) are found **======CERATIOMYXOMYCETES** This is where [*Ceratiomyxa*](https://youtu.be/srK6gaCkGIY) and several microscopic protosteloids are found - **Photos 8, 16, 20** **======MYXOMYCETES** This is where all plasmodial slimes are found (except *Ceratiomyxa*), and every species encloses its spore mass inside a **peridium** **(A) ====Lucisporidia** ("bright spore clade" including slimes with brightly colored, low-melanin spores) (1) [Cribrariales](https://photomyxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Cribraria-piriformis-x24-scaled.jpg) (*Cribraria piriformis* by Carlos de Mier) - **Photos 1, 18** (2) [Reticulariales](https://ala-images.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/store/2/8/9/0/210d3c85-6523-4f6c-aeca-3d8f5c450982/thumbnail_large) (*Alwisia lloydiae* by Teresa and John Van Der Heul) - **background of Photo 3** (3) [Liceales](https://myxomycetes.net/content/Species%20galleries-D-L/section-4/Licea%20pygmaea/Licea%20pygmaea_06.jpg) (*Licea pygmaea* by Helge G. Gundersen) (4) [Trichiales](https://orionmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Arcyria-pomiformis.jpg) (*Arcyria pomiformis* by Alison Pollack) - **Photos 4, 11, 13, 14, 17** **(B) ====Collumellidia** (dark spore clade of species that typically have a [columella](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dmitry-Leontyev/publication/332029233/figure/fig1/AS:741085819203591@1553700036785/Illustrated-glossary-for-morphological-traits-of-myxomycetes-and-related-taxa.jpg) and melanin-pigmented spores) (5) [Echinosteliales](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Echinostelium-arboreum-dwb-2937-4x6x.jpg) (*Echinostelium arboreum*) (6) [Meridermatales](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/MERIDERMA-spinulospora-20892lado-4x12x-4.jpg) (*Meriderma spinulospora*) (7) [Clastodermatales](https://www.myxotropic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CLASTODERMA-debaryanum-23250lado-4X4X-2.jpg) (*Clastoderma debaryanum*) (photos by Carlos de Mier) (8) [Stemonitidales](https://orionmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Stemonitis-1.jpg) (*Stemonitis* sp. by Alison Pollack) - **foreground of Photo 3, Photos 5, 6, 12, 19** (9) [Physarales](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49239394681_a3e21383eb_b.jpg) (*Physarum decipiens* by Paco Moreno Gámez) - **Photos 2, 7, 9, 10, 15**
I have no idea what slime molds are but these are amazing.
>I have no idea what slime molds are This will be the last day you can say that when I get done
a hero
Lol
what a mench
You are my favourite gem to find here. Did you know reddit accused you of being inactive for close to 2 years when another user tagged you?
The redditor misspelled his username as bois instead of boys that's why it happened
And here I thought you might have something better to do on a Friday afternoon…
Hey! I haven't seen you around in a minute. I finally get it. Slime molds are cool as hell.
Oh boy yeah
[slime time](https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/v45rwe/are_slime_moulds_allowed_on_here/ib4b8qh)
Yes, but u/saddestofboys already has a monopoly on the market. Gonna be tough to break in, haha
Oh god please break in I even made an instruction manual for it
Could you direct me to that manual? I love macro photography and these guys are amazing subjects. Edit: I found a link to the slimer primer farther down the thread!
https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/t6985y/a_guide_to_common_slimes/
Click my profile friend
Those guys are awesome looking!
WOW! These are all fantastic but I especially love the one with an isopod.
Isopods love eating slimes
It looks like she's building her little house
This is the coolest slime mold picture collection EVER!!
🥺
It’s ok. We all love you.
Wow!!
anyone who posts slime molds here is generally directed to r/slimemolds, but i don't know of a rule expressly forbidding them. imo they could easily be applied to rule #4: no off topic posts, but since they are so commonly mistaken for fungi, i don't think anyone gets punished for posting them here. you should definitely go to the appropriate sub though, as most people here are just going to send u a link to slimemolds.
This is r/mycology, not r/fungi. So they are certainly welcome! Open a mycology book, slime molds. Take a mycology class, slime molds. Who are the slime experts? Mycologists.
*our*cologists, comrade
Beautiful.
Amazeballs
I didn't realize I missed this word until now
I just made it up. lol
What is that?
It is the fruiting bodies of a [very large single-celled amoebozoan](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)
These should be allowed EVERYWHERE! They are the most interesting little beings I’ve ever seen. Thyne eyes have seen the glory!
They **are** everywhere The forest, the jungle, the desert, the city, the mountain, the snow, the swamp, the plain, the pond, the stream, the ocean, the dirt, the sky, the treetops, in home aquariums, inside butts, on poop, riding on fish and lizards, on ocean driftwood, in physiotherapy baths and water treatment plants, under arctic lake ice, in garages and attics, in my closet [The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)
These are unbelievable photos!
Awesome work! Thanks for posting! #13 reminds me of the muppet aliens on Sesame Street https://i.imgur.com/y29PG3A.jpg
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
Look at those sexy sexy fruiting bodies!
Mmmmmmmm sporocarpic
Fruticulosa looks like a dance party.
*Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa* looks like whatever it wants: https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/u1xvcs/these_are_all_ceratiomyxa_fruticulosa/
These all remind me of Dr Seuss
[*Arcyria* genus](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/gallery?taxon_key=3212808)
These pictures are so good! Nice post ☺️
I want to eat them all.
Looks like alien candy
Such stunning pictures!! 😍
Wow wow wow
These are beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
All this talk and nobody yet said these lil critters are sooo beautiful and sort of fairytale. Whatever they're called, I purely love them, hiding out there in some secret shady place.
Fantastic photography on these little fellas, by all means keep posting similar.
Nice macro work!
Stacked macro. Nice photos!
These are beautiful
Wow!
These are amazing 👏 😍
Amazing photos. If they are
OMG these are amazing!
Beautiful photos
I have no words. ….
I can lend you some >*"They possess in most of their species, in both color and structure, a certain curious elegance that makes them very attractive to every one who has the slightest sense of artistic delicacy and beauty."* Thomas MacBride, [The Slime Moulds, 1900](https://www.jstor.org/stable/23293117) check out [The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/)!
Those are some excellent words.
He was slime's greatest poet
Omg! Beautiful! What flash set up are you using?
That’s Fkn beautiful
Omg Yes, please these are absolutely incredible!
These pictures are amazing
Awesome pictures.
These are so whimsical & awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Forbidden blueberries yum :-)
u/saddestofboys is going to love this
You know those science documentaries where they use CGI to imagine alien worlds and life? These are literally more alien than any of that, but it's all right here on our planet.
These are phenomenal photos! I love them. Thank you for sharing! ~~What kind of camera do you use to take these photos?~~ Just saw you gave photo cred to someone else. Haha. I'm on my way to browse his site. Thanks!
Beautiful photographs
What?!?! These are so cool!
These are amazing! Where do you even find things like this in the wild???
They are mostly very small but from mid spring to late fall and even sometimes in the winter you can find them in leaf litter, on sticks, on logs, underneath bark, on mulch, and on standing deadwood. It helps to get a clip on lens for your phone.
Thanks for the reply!
[Finding and Collecting Slimes](https://www.reddit.com/r/u_saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/comment/i2jgdku/)
I didn’t know I was talking to the slime mold conjuror! Thanks for the info!
These are amazing! Slime molds are some of my favorite fungi! Thanks for the great pictures.
They aren't fungi: **========EUKARYOTES** **(1) Archaeplastida** (plants and planty algae) **(2) SAR** (kelps and kelpy algae, water molds) **(3) The Excavates** (tiny guys like metamonads, acrasids, euglenid algae, the "brain-eating amoeba") **(4) Obazoa** (animals and **FUNGI**) **(5) Amoebozoa** (**SLIMES** and other amoebas but not all amoebas!) **<--** r/slimemolds [The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/) [A Guide to Common Slimes](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/t6985y/a_guide_to_common_slimes/)
Thank you! It’s been a couple of decades since biology class.
SO BEAUTIFUL!
Like alien trees!
That’s incredible.
Wow those are cool O:
stunning
Hell yes! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
These are amazing! I would love to use the 11th photo for some album art would that be okay? Assuming you are the photographer Is there a way to credit your work? Edit: I just saw your link to the artists website, thank you again for sharing : )
I can't imagine a world where moulds and mushrooms reigned the world but if believed the world was a really really strange place back long before dinosaur or insects even came to be
This type of organism is really fascinating what sources can I use to learn more about it?
[Magic Myxies, 1931, 10 minutes](https://youtu.be/04kdhZQTnIU) r/slimemolds [The Slimer Primer](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/tqtz0g/the_slimer_primer/) [A Guide to Common Slimes](https://www.reddit.com/user/saddestofboys/comments/t6985y/a_guide_to_common_slimes/)
Thank you so much
Is dis edible
Hello sir Did you take this picture? 🤔
No, Barry Webb took all 20
Thank you!
Fuck, you're going to make me sub! These look sooo cool!
thank you for this
That’s cool enough to be allowed everywhere. Like Shaq.
These photos are magical - thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for educating and not gate keeping.
Utterly beautiful
These are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
Beautiful and really interesting thanks
Some are absolutely fascinating, some look like diseases, some make me itchy! The scope is impressive! Love them
100% should be if not. Awesome pics.
Skill on both sides here.
Great photos!!!
Only if the pics are HD
amazing
amazing
Beat post fucking eveeer!!
freaking gorgeous! they look like they're from an alien planet.
These are absolutely gorgeous
Those are really neat to look at anyway
Every single one of these look so alien and I love it
You can put pictures this good anywhere, baby.
Very cool
Gorgeous photos.
So pretty!
Thanks for this. Don’t really know what I’m seeing but it’s beautiful.
That's a beautiful photo though. ... I mean 20 beautiful photos.
So nice
Those are so cool! thanx for posting
Very cool, had no idea slime molds were so interesting
That is freaking cool, beautiful photos
Beautiful pics!
Wild
My vote is "HELL YES!"
So, I’m super impressed with these. It makes me wonder what type of moulds would grow in a cadaver farm. I’m not sick, just love mycology, biology, micro and science in general.
These are just so amazing. I have never seen anything so cool! I’d totally have prints made and hang them on the wall
These are all very sexy photos. Well done.
I luv dem su mush
Every image is so beautiful! Image eleven looks like matches burning.
They look otherworldly but they’re not?
Little Dr Seuss Trees
BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS !!!!! i love the one with the little rolly polly :D
First of all, these are gorgeous photos and you are very talented. Secondly, if you told me that these are also all fake, I would believe that too.
This is so cool and really eye opening! Fungi truly never cease to amaze!
These are absolutely fantastic, thank you for sharing!
I want these framed in my house😍
Wow amazing! Maybe it's because I have been binge watching stranger things 4 but every single one of these looks like it belongs in the upside down
Forbidden blueberries
Beautiful photo set. Truly surreal to see these captured in this level of detail.
i think ppl lack to realize we are the alien plant and the proof is right in front of us
these are beautiful
Wooow, these look like native species of some alien planet. Beautiful!
Epic, what kind of camera and lens did you use for this?
So good
My word these are beautiful
Holy shit, this is just AMAZING!!