Dictyostelium citrinum, D. medusoides and D. granulophorum: three new members of the Dictyosteliaceae from forest soils of Tikal, Guatemala

Abstract

Thirty-four different taxa of dictyostelid and one acrasid cellular slime mold were recovered from forest soils of Tikal, Guatemala. Ten of these taxa are new to science while others are new records for the American tropics. These isolations represent the largest collection of dictyostelids obtained from a single forest. Dictyostelium citrinum, D. medusoides and D. granulophorum are three medium to large sized, yellow pigmented species described here for the first time.

Key Words:

• Dictyostelium
• forest soil
• taxonomy
• Tikal
• tropical ecology