15 October 2017 Revised 27 August 2019
Tubifera ferruginosa subsp. ferruginosa must be one of the most distinctive slime moulds because of its large size and bright red colour when it first appears. Like other slime moulds it gradually changes colour as it develops and the mature pseudoaethalia are mid brown. If the early bright stage is observed it is easy to identify. For several consecutive years T. ferruginosa subsp. ferruginosa has appeared on a large strongly decayed log of Banksia marginata that is partly covered with leafy liverworts. I have collections dated 10 October 2014, 27 September 2016 and 5 November 2017.
I find Tubifera species that are not bright red in the early stage and they don’t match the descriptions in Poulain et al. (2011). It wasn’t until I read a paper ‘A critical revision of the Tubifera ferruginosa complex’ by Leontyev et al. 2015 that I attempted to put a name to the species I find at Black Sugarloaf. However, the paper refers to Holarctic species and it is now confirmed that these southern hemisphere specimens represent undescribed species.
In the paper the authors state that long-term observations have revealed that the colour of the newly-emerged fruiting bodies are a key feature when trying to identify species, i.e. that most species have their own distinctive colour (they’re all more or less the same colour when they mature): salmon to scarlet in T. ferruginosa subsp. ferruginosa; deep pink in T. ferruginosa subsp. acutissima; coral red in T. dudkae; orange in T. montana; pink in T. magna; pinkish cream in T. pseudomicrosperma; and dirty salmon to flesh pink in T. applanata. The colour of immature T. corymbosa has not been observed.
They also state that the ornamentation of the inner peridial surface is another diagnostic feature. I had photographed different patterns on the peridial surfaces of my different collections, but this feature was only mentioned in Poulain et al. for T. applanata (see below). The paper includes photographs of these surfaces taken with a Scanning Electron Microscope.
The following species have been collected at Black Sugarloaf: T. ferruginosa subsp. ferruginosa; T. glareata, T. tomentosa and T. vanderheuliae.
Tubifera glareata S.J. Lloyd, Leontvey & Dagamac
Tubifera vanderheuliae S.J. Lloyd, Leontvey & Dagamac
Tubifera vanderheuliae is the most common species of Tubifera at Black sugarloaf, possibly because it appears in early spring which is usually the wettest time of the year in this part of Tasmania. It is a pale colour when it first appears and strongly resembles immature Arcyria obvelata. It gradually darkens as it matures; mature pseudoaethalia are light sandy brown.
Above: two pseudoaethalia on a small lichen-covered stump.
Above: 3 Oct. 2017 pseudoaethalium on a large bryophyte-covered eucalypt stump from where it has been collected previously— 8 Oct. 2012; 30 Oct. 2013; 11 Oct. 2014; and 25 Sept. 2015 (see plate below).
T. vanderheuliae has similarities to T. corymbosa in that it is either solitary or in small groups and is a tuft of cylindrical sporothecae. However, it is larger overall and usually has a diameter of approximately 6 mm with the largest being 12 mm across. It lacks the small spherical sporothecae embedded in the hypothallus at the base of the pseudoaethalium, and Tasmania is not tropical but cool temperate.
In the Black Sugarloaf collections the spongy hypothallus forms a narrow base of the pseudoaethalium and is whitish at first but darkens with age. Spores are banded reticulate over most of the surface and have a diameter of 8–10 µm. Marbling on the peridium is visible with oil immersion lens (1000x) as are distinctive circular folds.
Tubifera tomentosa S.J. Lloyd, Leontyev & Dagamac
Tubifera tomentosa usually appears in late spring/early summer (i.e. November and December) on large old eucalypt logs.
References:
Leontyev, Dmitry & Fefelov, K.A. (2012). ‘Nomenclatural status and morphological notes on Tubifera applanata sp. nov. (Myxomycetes).’ Mycotaxon. 120. 247-251. 10.5248/120.247.
Leontyev, D., Schnittler, M. & Stephenson, SL. (2015). A critical revision of the Tubifera ferruginosa complex. Mycologia. 107. 10.3852/14-271.
Lloyd, S.J., Leontyev, D., Dagamac, N. (2019) Three new species of Tubifera from Tasmania and New South Wales. Phytotaxa, 414 (5): 240-252.
Poulain et al. (2011) Les Myxomycètes. 2 Vols. Fédération Mycologique et botanique Dauphiné Savoie, Sevrier.
Tasmanian Myxomycetes 