Mangrove myxomycetes: species occurring on Conocarpus erectus (Combretaceae)

Cavalcanti L. H., Damasceno, G., Bezerra, A. C. C. & Costa, A. A. A. (2014) Mangrove myxomycetes: species occurring on Conocarpus erectus L. (Combretaceae).

Sydowia 66 (2): 183–190

The occurrence of myxomycetes on mangroves was studied along the southern coast of the state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, with a primary focus on those species associated with Conocarpus erectus L. (Combretaceae). Field trips were carried out over a period of two years to the municipality of the Formoso River (8° 37’ – 8° 41’ S, 35° 04’ – 35° 08’ W) to collect specimens of myxomycetes and samples of bark from living trees, fruits and litter (ground and aerial) in order to prepare 380 moist chamber cultures. Seventy-eight specimens of myxomycetes were obtained, representing all orders of the Stemonitomycetidae and Myxogastromycetidae. Clastoderma debaryanum, Cribraria confusa, Hemitrichia calyculata, Physarum auriscalpium, P. echinosporum and P. roseum constitute new worldwide records for mangrove environments. Nearly half of the 20 species recorded on C. erectus were determined to be rare, while 25 % were infrequent, with Stemonitis fusca and Diachea leucopodia as the most frequent. Within the investigated microhabitats, aerial litter was the most productive, followed by the bark of living trees. Only S. fusca occurred in all of the microhabitats investigated, but was associated predominantly with aerial litter. Differences were observed in the composition of the corticicolous and foliicolous myxobiota of C. erectus.

Keywords: biodiversity, slime molds, microbiota, aerial litter, corticicolous.

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