Phylum:
Thallophyta
This phylum is a life division where upon unrelated organisms are placed. Most are microscopic, but many placed in this phylum form larger slime molds visible to the naked eye.
Most slime molds are terrestrial and free-living, typically in damp shady habitats such as in or on the surface of rotting wood. There are a few slime molds which are awuatic or semi-aquatic. A few, the phytomyxea are parasitic, living inside their hosts. Most all slime molds contribute to the decomposition of dead vegetation.
Range and Taxon
Geographically, slime molds have a cosmopolitan distribution, that is a range and taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, but in appropriate habitats.
A small number of species occur in regions as dry as the Atacama Desert on the Pacific Coast of South America and as cold as the Arctic; these organisms are abundant in the tropics, especially in rain forests.
Class:
Myxothallophyta (slime molds)
over 1000 species
Information:
The name is from Greek words, myxo meaning slime, thallo meaning simple and phyta meaning plant.
Indicates a plant group with a simple undifferentiated body.
Examples include: Ulothrix, Spirogyra, Cladophora, Fucus, Volvox Ulva and Chara.