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Sporocarp and spore morphology of Diderma novae-zelandiae (SLS 9653). (A) Group of closed sporocarps on dead bark under the dissection microscope (DM). Scale bar = 1 mm. (B) Opened sporocarps under DM. Scale bar = 1 mm. (C) Opened sporocarps under DM; the white columella is seen. Scale bar = 1 mm. (D) Opened sporocarps under DM; the white columella on long stalk is seen. Scale bar = 1 mm. (E) Longitudinal section of sporotheca, with white columella on stalk and white threads of capillitium under dissection microscope. Scale bar = 1 mm. (F) Stalk of sporocarps with prominent fibrous material in lower part of stalk visible with a light microscope with differential interface contrast (LM, DIC, Â100). Scale bar = 1 mm. (G) Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of inner surface of peridium with granular deposits of calcium and fibrous material. Scale bar = 10 mm. (H) SEM of granular deposits of calcium and fibrous material within the peridium. Scale bar = 1 mm. (I) SEM of the capillitium. Scale bar = 5 mm. (J) Micrograph of spores (top and median view) visible with LM (DIC, 100Â). Scale bar = 5 mm. (K) SEM of a spore. Scale bar = 2 mm.
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![Fig. 2. (A) Diachea subsessilis [PDD 98264]. Scale bar = 1 mm. (B)...](profile/Steve-Stephenson/publication/248900735/figure/fig2/AS:416704631984131@1476361534962/A-Diachea-subsessilis-PDD-98264-Scale-bar-1-mm-B-Diderma-ochraceum-PDD-98244_Q320.jpg)
Specimens of myxomycetes obtained as field collections or from moist-chamber cultures during surveys for these organisms carried out at several localities in New Zealand have yielded eight species not included in the monograph of the group published in 2003. One other species, listed provisionally as Diderma cf. miniatum on the basis of a single, r...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... scattered or in small groups, stalked, 2.5-3.4 mm total height (Fig. 1A-D). Sporotheca glossy lemon-yellow, subglobose, 0.6-1.2 mm in diameter. Stalk reddish-orange over the lower two-thirds, the upper one-third covered by a light yellow or lemon-yellow sheath apparently derived from the peridium, arising from a small discoid, membranous, glossy reddish-brown hypothallus, more than two-thirds the total height ...
Context 2
... from the peridium, arising from a small discoid, membranous, glossy reddish-brown hypothallus, more than two-thirds the total height of the sporocarp, stout, 150-500 mm in diameter at the base and tapering to 200-350 mm in diameter at the apex, filled with red-brown fibrous material in the lower two-thirds, and solid, calcareous in the upper part (Fig. 1F). Peridium double, the outer and inner layers thin-membranous, clearly visible only under SEM and at a high magnification with a light microscope, the space between the layers filled by granular deposits of calcium and fibrous material, this being closely adherent to the inner and outer layers (Fig. 1G, H). Dehiscence irregular. ...
Context 3
... and solid, calcareous in the upper part (Fig. 1F). Peridium double, the outer and inner layers thin-membranous, clearly visible only under SEM and at a high magnification with a light microscope, the space between the layers filled by granular deposits of calcium and fibrous material, this being closely adherent to the inner and outer layers (Fig. 1G, H). Dehiscence irregular. Columella clavate, 200-300 mm diameter, with a stalk-like base 300-650 mm in length, calcareous, cream or yellowish-white, reaching to the upper one-third of the sporotheca (Fig. 1D, E). Capillitium rather dense, delicately attached along the entire length of the columella, consisting of fine, dichotomously ...
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... between the layers filled by granular deposits of calcium and fibrous material, this being closely adherent to the inner and outer layers (Fig. 1G, H). Dehiscence irregular. Columella clavate, 200-300 mm diameter, with a stalk-like base 300-650 mm in length, calcareous, cream or yellowish-white, reaching to the upper one-third of the sporotheca (Fig. 1D, E). Capillitium rather dense, delicately attached along the entire length of the columella, consisting of fine, dichotomously branched, slightly undulating, pale yellowish threads 2-3 mm in diameter, the surface covered with small warts visible only under SEM (Fig. 1I). Spores dark brown in mass, fuscous or reddish-brown by transmitted ...
Context 5
... cream or yellowish-white, reaching to the upper one-third of the sporotheca (Fig. 1D, E). Capillitium rather dense, delicately attached along the entire length of the columella, consisting of fine, dichotomously branched, slightly undulating, pale yellowish threads 2-3 mm in diameter, the surface covered with small warts visible only under SEM (Fig. 1I). Spores dark brown in mass, fuscous or reddish-brown by transmitted light, globose, free, (11.5-)12.5-13.3(-13.5) mm in diameter, the surface densely covered with small warts (<0.2 mm in total height under SEM), these sometimes joined in short chains (Fig. 1J, K). Plasmodium unknown. ...
Context 6
... threads 2-3 mm in diameter, the surface covered with small warts visible only under SEM (Fig. 1I). Spores dark brown in mass, fuscous or reddish-brown by transmitted light, globose, free, (11.5-)12.5-13.3(-13.5) mm in diameter, the surface densely covered with small warts (<0.2 mm in total height under SEM), these sometimes joined in short chains (Fig. 1J, K). Plasmodium unknown. ...
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... Northumberland Co.: Nepisiguit PNA, Popple Depot 47.39766°N, 66.51409°W, on Green Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia mitis Sandstede), abandoned road and adjoining well-lit Jack Pine-Black Spruce forest, ground with heavy lichen cover and lots of exposed mineral soil and stones, 30 June 2015, K. E. Driscoll 1163 (NBM-MM-000258). Widespread but apparently rare, collected in Europe, New Zealand, and from scattered locations in North America, including the USA states of California, Michigan, and West Virginia as well as Ontario, Canada (Eliasson and Gilert 1982;Stephenson et al. 2009;MyCoPortal 2022). It occurs on lichens in the genus Cladonia and other substrates. ...
Studies of the diversity of myxomycetes or plasmodial slime moulds (Amoebozoa) in New Brunswick are lagging behind those of many other groups of terrestrial organisms. Here, we summarize the myxomycetes of the province as documented by recently collected specimens held by the New Brunswick Museum (NBM). Between 2007 and 2019, 264 specimens were collected, representing 80 species in 29 genera. Most of these records result from targetted searching during NBM-led biodiversity surveys (the BiotaNB project) in provincial protected natural areas between 2014 and 2019 and a mycological foray on Campobello Island in 2016. Previously, only seven species had been reported for the province. Consistent with their worldwide distributions and abundance, Arcyria cinerea, Fuligo septica, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, and Lycogala epidendrum were the most collected species, whereas the globally rare species Paradiacheopsis microcarpa has been collected in New Brunswick six times. Forty-two species were found only once, and five of these (Comatricha mirabilis, Fuligo laevis, Hemitrichia chrysospora, Lepidoderma neoperforatum, Listerella paradoxa) are rare worldwide.
... 8. 0-9.5 in Tasmania. However, the surveys did yield a species (Diderma novae-zelandiae S.L. Stephenson and Novozh.) that appears to be associated with Nothofagus forests in New Zealand and is not yet known from any other region in the world (Stephenson et al. 2009). Wrigley de Basanta et al. (2010) reported the results of surveys for myxomycetes carried out in southern Argentina, during which they recorded two apparently rare species of Diderma-D. ...
A new species of Trichia (myxomycetes) was collected during surveys for myxomycetes carried out in Nothofagus cunninghamii forests in western Tasmania in May 2008 and a similar survey carried out in a N. morrei forest in New South Wales in May 2009. This new species, T. brimsiorum, is described and illustrated. It resembles T. decipiens in overall shape and size of the sporocarps but has smaller spores and the ornamentation of the capillitium is different.
... Although myxomycetes occur globally in most types of terrestrial environments, their know distributions largely reflect where the few specialists studying the group have worked. For example, this is the case for the islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, from which, with the exception of New Zealand (Mitchell 1992;Stephenson 2003;Stephenson et al. 2009) and Fiji and Western Samoa (Macbride 1926;Kylin and Mitchell 1987), there are only a few publications, each recording a single (Berkeley 1842;Farr 1979) or a handful (Schumann and Lauterbach 1901;Sydow and Sydow 1916;Lister 1922;Huguenin and Kohler 1969;Shaw 1984) of species. ...
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Class Variosea includes a varied range of amoeboid and ciliated forms with Mayorella sp. per MBL (Micro*scope) 92 NEW ZEALAND INVENTORY OF BIODIVERSITY resting cysts, among which is the genus Acanthamoeba. Overseas, species of Acanthamoeba are causative agents of granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, a fatal disease of the nervous sytem, and amoebic keratitis, a painful sight-threatening disease of the eye (Marciano-Cabral & Cabral 2003). In New Zealand, only Naegleria (phylum Percolozoa) has been implicated in causing primary amoebic encephalitis (Cursons & Brown 1976; Cursons et al. 1978; Brown et al. 1983), even though Acanthamoeba species co-occur in the warm geothermal waters that their virulent strains tolerate or thrive in. Since soil is the preferred habitat of small free-living amoebas, it probably acts as a reservoir, and contamination of geothermal waters may occur via runoff after rain. 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... During the dry season that extends through December, January and February, there is virtually no precipitation. Many studies have addressed the biodiversity of myxomycetes in various regions of the world9101112131415 but few previous studies have considered the myxomycetes of Thailand, and there are fewer than 150 species documented for the entire country [7, 8,16171819. Moreover, the data generated from early studies of myxomycetes in Thailand consisted only of short lists of species noted to occur in the country and/or brief notes on the occurrence of a few species at particular locality16171819. ...
The present study represented an effort to develop a better understanding of the assemblages of myxomycetes fruiting under natural conditions in the field during two different seasons in the tropical forests of Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. Sixty-seven species of myxomycetes were recorded, including eight new records for Thailand. Species richness and diversity were higher for the warm-wet season than for the cool-dry season. Some members of the order Stemonitales were encountered only during the warm-wet season, whereas members of the order Physarales appear to be better adapted to tolerate the dry conditions of the cool-dry season. General patterns of occurrence of myxomycetes in forest ecosystems are discussed.
Records of myxomycetes obtained as a result of field surveys carried out on Stewart Island in February and April of 1998 were supplemented with records of species appearing in moist chamber culture on samples of various types of dead plant material collected during the field surveys and a small set of samples collected in 2006. In addition, previously published records and all known herbarium records of these organisms were compiled in an effort to produce a comprehensive checklist of the myxomycetes for this region of New Zealand. The assemblage of 51 species reported from Stewart Island is more diverse than that of any of the subantarctic islands or island groups (Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland and Snares) but is much less diverse than mainland New Zealand.
The present study represented an effort to develop a better understanding of the assemblages of myxomycetes fruiting under natural conditions in the field during two different seasons in the tropical forests of Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. Sixty-seven species of myxomycetes were recorded, including eight new records for Thailand. Species richness and diversity were higher for the warm-wet season than for the cool-dry season. Some members of the order Stemonitales were encountered only during the warm-wet season, whereas members of the order Physarales appear to be better adapted to tolerate the dry conditions of the cool-dry season. General patterns of occurrence of myxomycetes in forest ecosystems are discussed.
Nivicolous myxomycetes occur at the edge of spring-melting snow in mountainous areas. They are mostly considered cosmopolitan species morphologically and ecologically uniform across their entire distribution ranges. Thus, long-distance dispersal has been suggested to be the main mechanism shaping their ranges and geographical variability patterns. To test this hypothesis we conducted the first detailed analysis of morphological variability, occurrence frequency and phenology of nivicolous myxomycetes collected in the hitherto unexplored Austral Andes of South America (southern hemisphere = SH) in the comparative context of data from the northern hemisphere (NH). We used Stemonitales, the most representative and numerous taxonomic order in nivicolous myxomycetes, as a model. A total of 131 South American collections represented 13 species or morphotypes. One of them, Lamproderma andinum, is new to science and described here. Several others, L. aeneum, L. album, L. pulveratum, "Meriderma aff. aggregatum ad. int.", M. carestiae and "M. spinulosporum ad. int.", were previously unknown from the SH. Lamproderma ovoideum is reported for the first time from South America and Collaria nigricapillitia is new for Argentina. The fine-scale morphological analysis of all species from the study area and reference NH material demonstrated a high intraspecific variability in most of them. This suggests isolation and independent evolutionary processes among remote populations. On the other hand, the uniform morphology of a few species indicates that long-distance dispersal is also an effective mechanism, although not as universal as usually assumed, in some nivicolous myxomycetes. Analysis of nivicolous species assemblages also showed significant differences among major geographic regions in that the Stemonitales were significantly less common in the SH than in the NH. Furthermore, the occurrence of nivicolous species in summer and autumn, out of the typical phenological season, is recognized as a possible distinctive phenomenon for the SH populations.
Copyright © 2014, Mycologia.
Two methods are described for testing cameras and camera lenses by utilizing the properties of the crossed cylinder lens, an ophthalmic test device. In the first, the cylinder lens is used in conjunction with a rectangular grid to defocus the star image formed by a collimator. This test permits quantitative determination of axial chromatic aberration, spherical aberration and its variations with wavelength, and coma of the lens. In the second, a segment of the cylinder lens is used as a supplementary lens attachment to the camera, which photographs a polar coordinate chart. Analysis of the photograph permits determination of the sagittal and tangential field curvatures, and also indicates errors in focal adjustment and misalignment of film plane with respect to the lens axis. Since these tests require cylinder lenses of smaller dioptric power and quality superior to that available from the ophthalmic lens industry, methods for the construction and synthesis of large-aperture, weak, cross cylinder lenses and segments thereof are given. Experimental details of the lens testing procedures, together with examples of photographic determination of the various camera and lens defects, are presented. A sensitive test for lateral chromatic aberration is included in an appendix.
