Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index The stramenopiles are a major group of eukaryotes, including the heterokonts and a few close relatives. These are distinguished by having tripartite mastigonemes, or are secondarily derived from forms that do. In addition to the heterokont algae, they include the following: Water molds, Hypochytrids - groups superficially similar to fungi Bicosoecids - a small group of heterokont flagellates Labyrinthulids, Thraustochytrids - small groups similar to slime molds Proteromonads, Opalines - small groups of flagellates The stramenopiles were defined by D.J. Patterson, and were his prototype for rankless taxa. They essentially correspond to the kingdom Chromista defined by Thomas Cavalier-Smith, except that also includes the haptophytes and cryptomonads, on the supposition that they all share a common origin from a colored ancestor. External addresses Tree of Life web project: Stramenopiles Systema Naturae 2000 / Details - "Stramenopiles" Encyclopedia: Stramenopile Jacob Feldman: Stramenopila This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.