Fifteen new species from the myxomycete genus Lycogala

ABSTRACT

Based on a study of 255 collections from four continents and four floristic kingdoms, we describe 15 new species of the genus Lycogala. The new species, all morphologically close to L. epidendrum, L. exiguum, and L. confusum, differ from each other by the structure of the peridium and, in some cases, also by the color of the fresh spore mass and the ornamentation of the capillitium and spores. Species delimitation is confirmed by two independently inherited molecular markers, as well as previously performed tests of reproductive isolation and genetic distances. We studied authentic material of L. exiguum and L. confusum and found fresh specimens of these species, which allowed us to obtain molecular barcodes and substantiate the separation of new species from these taxa. We propose to retain the name L. epidendrum for the globally most abundant species, for which we provide a more precise description and a neotypification. Two formerly described species, L. leiosporum and L. fuscoviolaceum, we consider to be dubious. We do not recognize the species L. terrestre.

KEYWORDS:

• Amoebozoa
• capillitium
• molecular barcoding
• Myxogastrea
• peridium
• Reticulariaceae
• SEM
• species delimitation
• spores
• 1 new typification
• 15 new taxa

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Carrying out this research would not have been possible without the invaluable help of the scientific community. Loans from numerous colleagues allowed us to study collections from many different regions of the world. Among them were Ardian Abaz (Norway), N. Ambec (Canada), Yury Bengus (Ukraine), Mariko Creasman (USA), Thomas E. dela Cruz (Philippines), P. Eitmann (Germany), Maria F. B. Eloreta (Philippines), Arturo Estrada-Torres (Mexico), Anastasia Glagkikh (Ukraine), Eva Heinrich (Germany), Kåre Homble (Norway), Lillian Iversen (Norway), Edvin Johannesen (Norway), Georgios Konstantinides (Greece), Inger Kristoffersen (Norway), Alexey Kryukov (Russia), Mariia D. Leontieva (Ukraine), Yuliana Leshchenko (Ukraine), Asbjørn Lie (Norway), Sarah J. Lloyd (Australia), E. Lomp (Germany), Vasyl B. Malanyuk (Ukraine), Kirsti Anne Mandal (Norway), Per Marstad (Norway), Bogdan Mazur (Poland), Oleksandra Nikitina (Ukraine), Else I. Olsen (Norway), Dora Panayotova (USA), Carlos Rojas Alvarado (Costa Rica), Ingrvild Rokseth (Norway), Stanislav V. Sarzhevskyi (Ukraine), Trond Schumacher (Norway), Steven L. Stephenson (US), Nils E. Stokke (Norway), Kjersti N. Tjernshaugen (Norway), Teresa and John van der Heul (Australia), Per Vetlesen (Norway), Vitaliy Vyunnyk (Ukraine), Steve Wendt (Canada), and Alina Yushko (Russia). We are grateful to Dr. Rabea Schlüter (Department for Microbial Physiology and Molecular Biology, University of Greifswald) for the significant help with electron microscopy. We express our sincere gratitude to Ann Bogaerts (Meise, Belgium) and Lisa A. Castlebury (Beltsville, Maryland, USA) for providing authentic collections of Lycogala confusum and L. exiguum for our study.

Every word of this paper is dedicated to the brave people of Ukraine, their struggle for liberty and free intellectual development.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2023.2199109

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by an Alexander von Humboldt grant for experienced scientists awarded to D.L. Laboratory procedures were in part supported by a grant within the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation) graduate school “Response” (RTG2010) to M.S.