Ceratiomyxaceae = Ceratiomyxidae.
Protozoa> Myxomycota> Myxomycetes> Protosteliales> Ceratiomyxaceae.
Domain Eukaryota > Phylum Amoebozoa > Class Protostelia > Order Protosteliida > Family Ceratiomyxidae.
Phylum Myxomycota > Order Protosteliales > Family Ceratiomyxaceae.
They are plasmodial slime moulds that grow on decaying wood.
The plasmodium has a watery layer, the protoplasm that is covered with mucous.
It can be clear, white, pink, yellow, bluish-green or yellowish-green.
The most common fruiting bodies (sporangia) are just a column or stalk with spores on the outer surface.
Stalks can be solitary or the base can be fused with that of other fruit bodies to form clusters.
In others the stalks branch like a tree.
Stalks can be small, tall (up to 4 mm high) and thin or joined to form a network.
There appears to be some uncertainty about the number of genera and species.
The Ceratiomyxa genus and the species Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa are the ones most mentioned.
J.F.
