What is "vampyrellidae"

The family Vampyrellidae Zopf, 1885 is a subgroup of the order Vampyrellida West, 1901 within the phylum Cercozoa. Based on molecular sequence data, the family currently comprises the genus Vampyrella, and maybe several other vampyrellid amoebae (e.g. Gobiella). The cells are naked and characterised by radiating, filose Pseudopodia (also referred to as filopodia) and an orange colouration of the main cell body.

In former times the family Vampyrellidae contained several genera (e.g. Vampyrella, Gobiella, Leptophrys, Platyreta, Theratromyxa) and was identical with the order Vampyrellida West, 1901, also known under the name "Aconchulinida". However, based on molecular sequence data it seemed resonable to restrict the family Vampyrellidae to a subgroup (containing the genus Vampyrella) and to establish another family for the genera Leptophrys, Platyreta and Theratromyxa, namely the Leptophryidae Hess et al., 2012.