The first record of a myxomycete from subantarctic Macquarie Island

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Stephenson, Steven L., Seppelt, Rodney D., Laursen, Gary A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1992
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Signy Island; South Orkney Islands; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; Macquarie Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102092000634; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102092000634

Myxomycetes (plasmodial slime moulds) are best known from temperate and boreal forests, where they are commonly found in association with decaying coarse woody debris and leaf litter on the forest floor (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). There have been only a few reports of myxomycetes from either the continent of Antarctica or the subantarctic islands. In what apparently represents the first record of a myxomycete from the south polar region, Horak (1966) described a new species, Diderma antarcticolum Horak, from material collected on the Antarctic Peninsula (64°53′S, 62°53′W). Later, Ing & Smith (1980,1983) reported Didymium dubium Rost., Lamproderma arcyrioides (Sommerf.) Rost., Stemonitopsis (Comatricha) subcaespitosa (Peck) Nann.- Brem. and Diderma niveum (Rost.) Macbr. from South Georgia (54–55°S, 36–38°W). They also indicated that the latter species was known from Signy Island, South Orkney Islands (60°43′S, 45°36′W) and the Antarctic Peninsula (65°16′S, 64°08′W) as well as South Georgia.