Chaos (amoeba)

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Chaos

Chaos diffluens

Kingdom:	Amoebozoa
Phylum:	Sarcodina
Class:	Tubulinea
Order:	Tubulinida
Family:	Amoebidae
Genus:	Chaos Linnaeus 1767

Species

Chaos carolinensis

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Chaos is a genus of giant amoebae, varying from 1-5 mm in length. They are closely related to Amoeba, and share the same general morphology, producing numerous cylindrical pseudopods. However, Chaos have several hundred nuclei, while Amoeba only have one. The most notable species is C. carolinensis; they have also been classified as Pelomyxa, another giant multinucleate amoeba, but they are not particularly similar.

Chaos feed on bacteria, fungi, other protists and multicellular rotifers. They are heterotrophs like all members of sarcodina, and obtain food energy by ingestion. They are mostly scavengers and are found on the bottom of freshwater habitats.

Chaos move by pseudopodia. They do not have a hard cell wall. The cytoplasm is divided into the endoplasm which is fluid and contains the many nuclei, granules, and food vacuoles, and the ectoplasm which is more viscous and does not contain any granules.