Species · GBIF taxon 3212991
Dark-brown Wood-hair
Stemonitis fuscaAlso known as Chocolate Tube Slime, Pipe Cleaner Slime Mold, Chocolate Tube Slime Mold
Dark-brown Wood-hair starts life as a microscopic, single-celled amoeba before merging into a slimy plasmodium that creeps through moist wood to engulf bacteria and fungal spores. When mature, it transforms into clusters of delicate, hair-like chocolate brown stalks that rise from the decaying wood surface. These fruiting structures eventually release millions of tiny airborne spores to colonize new damp forest habitats.
Slime MoldDecomposerForest Floor
1 / 7—observations
—countries
—peak records
Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Bacteria
- Fungal Spores
Predators
- Slugs
- Beetles
- Mites
ThreatsDeforestation and extreme drying of forest floor substrates
HabitatsDecaying logs, rotting stumps, and damp forest litter
Life spanPlasmodium stage lasts weeks to months; fruiting structures last days
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- OrderStemonitidales
- FamilyStemonitidaceae
- GenusStemonitis
- SpeciesStemonitis fusca
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Substrate search: Examine the underside of moist, decaying logs in shaded woodlands during warm, damp seasons.
- Magnification: Use a hand lens to appreciate the delicate network of thread-like filaments supporting the spores.
Co-occurring Slime (c) Kirill Ignatyev, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · cc-by-sa
Co-occurring Slime (c) Alan Rockefeller, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alan Rockefeller · cc-by
Co-occurring Slime Norbert Nagel / CC BY-SA 3.0 · cc-by-sa
Close Relative (c) Thomas Laxton, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Thomas Laxton · cc-by-sa
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