Chocolate Tube Slime vs

Stemonitis splendens compared with Stemonitis herbatica

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chocolate Tube Slime
Kingdom same	Protozoa (простейшие)	Protozoa (простейшие)
Phylum same	Mycetozoa	Mycetozoa
Class same	Myxomycetes (Myxomycetes)	Myxomycetes (Myxomycetes)
Order same	Stemonitidales	Stemonitidales
Family same	Stemonitidaceae	Stemonitidaceae
Genus same	Stemonitis	Stemonitis
Species	Stemonitis splendens	Stemonitis herbatica

Evolutionary Relationship

Chocolate Tube Slime and share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Stemonitis.

Conservation Status

Chocolate Tube Slime

NE — Not Evaluated

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chocolate Tube Slime
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chocolate Tube Slime

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

Chocolate Tube Slime

The Chocolate Tube Slime Mold (Stemonitis splendens) is a species of myxomycete (plasmodial slime mold) in the family Stemonitidaceae, found worldwide in temperate and tropical regions wherever there is decaying wood, leaf litter, and moist conditions. Stemonitis species are characterised by their elegant, upright, tube-shaped sporangia arranged in dense clusters — the sporangia of S. splendens are typically 10–20 millimetres tall, chocolate-brown to rust-brown in colour, and supported on individual stalks (stipes) arising from a common base. The spore mass within each tube is supported by a fine internal network of threads called the capillitium. Despite resembling plants or fungi, slime molds are protists — during their vegetative phase they exist as a large, multinucleate, mobile plasmodium that engulfs bacteria and fungal spores as it moves through decaying organic material. The plasmodium aggregates and differentiates into fruiting bodies when conditions become unfavourable, releasing millions of wind-dispersed spores. Chocolate Tube Slime Mold is not evaluated by the IUCN; as a cosmopolitan protist, it does not meet criteria for conservation listings. It is a common and iconic subject for amateur naturalists and is frequently photographed on decomposing logs in temperate woodland. Its ecological role in decomposing wood and recycling nutrients is significant.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇧🇷 Brazil 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States