First records of dictyostelids and protostelids from Ascension Island

Landolt, J. C., Shadwick, J. D. & Stephenson, S. L. (2008) First records of dictyostelids and protostelids from Ascension Island.

Sydowia 60 (2): 235–245

Ascension Island (7˚8 57’ S, 14˚8 22’ W) is a small (total area of only 97 km2), geologically young and extremely isolated island in the South Atlantic, located approximately 1600 km from the coast of Africa. Although much of the biota is relatively well documented, some groups such as the eumycetozoans (slime moulds) remain understudied or even unknown. During early March of 2007, samples of soil/humus and dead plant material for laboratory isolation of two groups of eumycetozoans (dictyostelids and protostelids) were collected at a number of localities on Ascension Island. As a result of this effort, three species of dictyostelids and fourteen species of protostelids were recorded. There were no previous records for either group from the island.

Keywords: biodiversity, long-distance dispersal, slime moulds, South Atlantic