Mucilago-crustacea-var-crustacea_capilitium_3bM

Description:

Mucilago crustacea var. crustacea P. Micheli ex F.H. Wigg., syn.: Mucilago spongiosa (Leyss.) Morgan, Spumaria alba (Bull.) Dc.Dog Sick Fungus, Dog Sick Slime Mould, DE: Grubigen PolsterkissenSlo.: oskorjena smrkljevkaCapillitium at high magnification.Dat.: Nov. 8. 2018 and Nov. 16. 2018Lat.: 46,360429 Long.: 13,702890Code: Bot_1161/2018_DSC3739 and Bot_1164/2018_DSC4302Picture file names: from Mucilago-crustacea-var-crustacea_raw_1 to Mucilago-crustacea-var-crustacea_raw_6.Habitat: Former pasture; under Tilia platyphyllos canopy; slightly inclined mountain slope, southeast aspect; shallow soil layer, calcareous, colluvial, skeletal ground; partly protected from direct rain by tree canopy; average precipitation ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevation 600 m (2.000 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: fallen off leaves and small dead branches of Tilia platyphyllos. Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soa and Trenta, Na melu place, near Trenta 2b cottage; East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC. Comment: Mucilago crustacea is a cosmopolitan species (north hemisphere only) not rare in calcareous regions (Ref.: 4). It is easy to be recognize by its characteristic habitus. Aethalia are composed of clumps or networks of very irregular tubes. As a whole they look whitish. The species can be eventually confused by some unusually looking species from genus Fuligo. But under the microscope they can be unmistakably separated. The cortex of Fuligo species is composed of +/- rounded calcareous grains, while the cortex of Mucilago crustacea is composed of calcareous (lime) crystals, which are easy to be seen under the microscope. The find was solitary.Three varieties of this species have been described in literature (Ref.: 1) - Mucilago crustacea var. crustacea, Mucilago crustacea var. solida and Mucilago crustacea var. dictyospora. The last one has reticulated not warty/spiny spores and Mucilago solida has significantly smaller spores than this observation and partly much broader capillitium threads (Ref.: 1). This pictures therefore show var. crustacea.Spores densely warty, globose to sub-globose. Dimensions (without warts/spines): (13,9) 14 - 15,8 (15,9) (12,4) 12,8 - 14,2 (14,3) m; Q = 1 - 1,1 (1,2); N = 12; Me = 14,8 13,6 m; Qe = 1,1. Olympus CH20, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil (spores, capillitium, Ca crystals, cortex), NEA 40x/0.65, magnification 400x (peridium, capillitium), NEA 10x/0.25, magnification 100x (capillitium); in water; fresh material. AmScope MA500 digital camera. Ref.:(1) H. Neubert, W. Nowotny, K. Baumann - H. Marx, Die Myxomyceten Deutschlands und des angrenzenden Alpenraumes unter besonderen Bercksichtigung sterreichs, Vol. 2., Karlheinz Baumann Verlag, (1995), p 154. SP: M. c. var. crustacea 10 -18, globous; M. c. var. solida 9-12 globose; M. c. var. dictyospora 12-14 globose.(2) M. Poulain, M. Meyer, J. Borronet, Les Myxomycetes, FMBDS (2011), Vol.1., p 454; Vol.2. p 349. SP: M. c. var crustacea 44-14 globose; M. c. var. solida 9-11 globose; M. c. var. dictyospora 12-14 globose.(3) S.L. Stephenson and H. Stempen, Myxomycetes, Timber Press Inc.(2000), p 138. SP: 11-13 globose.(4) B. Ing, The Myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland, The Richmond Publ. Co. Ltd, (1999), p 348. SP: 11-13 globose.Nikon D700 / Nikkor Micro 105mm/f2.8 and Sony 6000 / Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 16-70mm F4