Editing Actinophryid (section)

===Reproduction===

[[File:Heliozoen.jpg|thumb|''Actinophrys'' undergoing multiple plasmotomy]]

Reproduction in actinophryids generally takes place via fission, where one parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. For multinucleate heliozoa, this process is [[plasmotomy|plasmotomic]] as the nuclei are not duplicated prior to division.<ref name="Barrett1958" /> It has been observed that reproduction appears to be a response to food scarcity, with an increased number of divisions following the removal of food and larger organisms during times of food excess.<ref name="Johnson1894">{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Herbert P.|title=The plastogamy of actinosphaerium|journal=Journal of Morphology|date=April 1894|volume=9|issue=2|pages=269–276|doi=10.1002/jmor.1050090206|hdl=2027/hvd.32044107306375|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Actinophryids also undergo [[autogamy]] during times of food scarcity. This is better described as genetic reorganization than reproduction, as the number of individuals produced is the same as the initial number. Nonetheless, it serves as a way to increase genetic diversity within an individual which may improve the likelihood of expressing favorable genetic traits.<ref name="Grell1973">{{cite book|last1=Grell|first1=Karl Gottlieb|title=Protozoology|date=2013|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|location=Berlin, Heidelberg|isbn=9783642619588|pages=178–181}}</ref>

Plastogamy has also been extensively documented in actinophryids, especially in multinucleate ones. ''Actinosphaerium'' were observed to combine freely without the combination of nuclei, and this process sometimes resulted in more or less individuals than originally combined. This process is not caused merely by contact between two individuals but can be caused by damage to the cell body.<ref name="Johnson1894" />