Protists - all eukaryotes that are not plants, fungi, or animals. Plants are organisms that develop from embryos and are protected by tissues of the parent plant. Fungi are organisms that have cell walls that contain chitin. Animals are organisms that have ingestive metabolism. Protozoans - protists that ingest food by endocytosis.
Most protists are aquatic.
Some live in marine environments, others in fresh water, and others in body fluids of other organisms. Endosymbiosis - organisms living together, one inside the other. Slime molds live in damp soil and the moist, decaying bark of rotting trees. Organelles Contractile vacuole - a membrane enclosed vesicle that removes excess water. Food vacuole - a membrane enclosed vesicle where engulfed food is digested.