Microbial Biosystems 3(1): 45–60 (2018) http://fungiofegypt.com/Journal/index.html Copyright © 2018 Amrani and Abdel-Azeem ISSN 2357-0334 Microbial Biosystems Online Edition ARTICLE Checklist of Algerian fungi – Part 1: Protozoan Fungal Analogues (Myxomycetes) Amrani S1* and Abdel-Azeem AM2 1 Laboratoire de Biologie des Sols, Faculté des Sciences Biologiques, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediène, BP 32 El Alia, Alger 16111, Algeria. 2 Laboratory of systematic Mycology, Botany Department, Faculty of Science, University of Suez Canal, Ismailia 41522, Egypt. Amrani S and Abdel-Azeem AM 2018 – Checklist of Algerian fungi – Part 1: Protozoan Fungal Analogues. Microbial Biosystems 3(1), 45-60. Abstract Informations on Algerian mycobiota are scattered through a wide array of journals, books, dissertations and the lack of comprehensive catalogs or checklists makes difficult to apprehend it diversity. By screening all available bibliographic sources and herbaria catalogues it was possible to delineate 97 species belonging to 31 genera and from which 9 species have not been yet reported in the literature for Algeria. This checklist is the first comprehensive species list fully dedicated to Algerian Protozoan Fungal Analogues. Key words  Mycobiota, slime molds, biodiversity, literature and herbaria catalogs survey, species list. Introduction Since 1799 to the present days, Algeria has been the subject of intense mycological exploration, as evidenced by the abundant literature on Algerian mycobiota, the great number of new species provided to science and the considerable number of fungal specimens held by many herbaria worldwide. However despite this the diversity of Algerian mycoflora is relatively unknown by mycologists because the information on Algerian fungi is scattered over a large number of contributions most often written in French and that it does not exist until now a flora, a catalog or even a checklist of Algerian fungi. In an attempt to provide a new impetus to mycological research in Algeria, which has suffered from the absence of a recent synthetic contribution dealing with Algerian fungal diversity, we compiled a checklist of Algerian fungi based on published sources and herbaria specimens catalogues. This checklist elaborated from nearly 10.000 records gathered from literature and herbaria catalogues survey indicate that Algerian fungal diversity comprises more than 3.100 specific or infraspecific taxa spread over more than 1000 genera. Since this list is too large to be published in a single contribution we have decided to split it into several contributions under a common title and different subtitles relating to the groups of fungi taken in consideration. 45 Submitted 27 July 2018, Accepted 22 August 2018, Published online 24 August 2018 Corresponding Author: Amrani S – e-mail – said_amrani@yahoo.com This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Our first contribution is dedicated to a group of organisms that although they are protozoa, are still studied mainly by mycologists under the denomination of Myxomycetes, Myxomycota, Mycetozoa or Protozoan Fungal like Analogs (PFA). The PFA commonly called also slime molds, are a cosmopolitan group of organisms comprising about 1.165 species developing in a variety of habitats; these include well-managed lawns and flower beds, moist places especially those on old wood and other plant material undergoing decomposition. The slime molds are also widespread on dung, and few representatives may also be restricted to this substratum. Another more recently recognized specialized niche is materialized by the dead branches attached to living trees. The major taxonomic treatises presently available on the slime moulds are those of Martin and Alexopoulos (1969), Alexopoulos (1973, 1978) and Farr (1976). They are heterotrophic and most are decomposers that feed on dead plants and animals by endocytosis (Kendrick 2000). The first written reference on Algeria myxomycetes date back to 1799 when René Desfontaines (1750–1833) reported in his Flora atlantica (Desfontaines 1799) Lycoperdon complanatum (= Lycoperdon bivalve Pers.). Nearly à half century later the first major contribution to the fungi of Algeria and its myxomycetous part was provided by Tulasne and Léveillé who authored the fungi section of the Cryptogamic volume of the Flore d’Algérie (Durieu de Maisonneuve 1846) and where they report 34 records of myxomycetes corresponding to nowadays 29 distinct and recognized taxa. Since that it took almost 8 decades to see the publication by Maire, Patouillard and Pinoy (Maire et al. 1926) of the first publication dedicated exclusively to Algerian myxomycetes and where is reported 55 records of myxomycetous fungi corresponding to nowadays 47 distinct and recognized taxa. The second major and last contribution dedicated to Algerian myxomycetes was published four decades later by Faurel, Feldmann, Schotter (Faurel et al. 1964) who reported 73 records of myxomycetous fungi corresponding to 61 nowadays distinct and recognized taxa. Apart this historic and/or prominent contributions that have been published between 1799 and 1965 several minor contributions dealing with the observation of myxomycetes taxa in Algeria carried by several investigators viz: Montagne (1857), Maire (1906), Feldmann (1942), Malençon (1952) and Faurel and Schotter (1964). Other researchers reported this observations e.g. Rostafiński (1874 & 1875), Saccardo (1888 & 1892), Massee (1892), Buchet et al. (1912 & 1920), Duthie (1917), Lister (1925) and Macbride and Martin (1934). The latter authors cited North-Africa Myxomycetes without mention of the exact country of occurrence of each taxon they reported. After this period it was necessary to wait until the works of Rojas and Stephenson (2010) and Djelloul (2014) to renew with the reporting of field observations of PFA in Algeria, thus constituting a good indicator at which extent the study of this group of organisms have been neglected. Although relatively recent regional (Lado 1994) or continental compilations (Ndiritu et al. 2009) give a good overview on the myxomycetes of Algeria we considered judicious to complete their list of taxa by records gathered from literature and herbarium specimen catalogues and to provide more details on their nomenclatural synonymy, substrate, distribution and abundance. Checklists are important tools in taxonomy, systematics and conservation (Söderström et al. 2007, 2008; Moustafa and Abdel-Azeem 2011; Abdel-Azeem and Salem 2013; Nafady et al. 2016). In spite of that, several important areas lack recent checklists, including Algeria. This work aimed to close the gaps in knowledge on the fungi diversity of Algeria by providing a comprehensive checklist of protozoan fungal analogues. 46 Materials and Methods Study area Algeria, c. 2.4 million km2 in area, is the largest country of Africa since the partition of Sudan in 2011. It is situated to the north of this continent, its entire northern coastline stretches for c. 1200 km along the southern boundary of the Mediterranean Sea, while inland it is delimited clockwise, along a boundaries totalling c. 6400 km, by Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Morocco. The country, which is mainly mountainous with an average altitude of 800 m, stretches from north to south (18°57’N to 37°08’N) to a distance of c. 2000 km and from west to east (08°39’W to 12°00’E) to a distance of c. 2100 km; the western parts of Algeria are only c. 160 km from the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean coastline and the two major mountain ranges, the Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas, delimitates southwards three major topographic and climatic regions (1) the Tell, (2) the Hauts-Plateaux and (3) the Sahara (Fig. 1). The Tell region, stretching only 80-190 km inland, includes the coastal strip and the Tell Atlas Mountains (Tellian Atlas) that consist of narrow coastal plains, hills and mountains. The annual precipitation ranges from semi-arid (400-600 mm) to moderately humid with an increasing gradient from west to east where some permanent wetland areas occur. Although this region represents only c. 4% of the Algerian territory, it includes 70% of the country’s agricultural soils and hosts 65% of the population. The natural vegetation of this area is typically Mediterranean and many of the mountain slopes are covered with dense forest or scrub of mainly oaks (Quercus suber, Quercus ilex, Q. coccifera), junipers (Juniperus oxycedrus, J. thurifera J. phoenicea), aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) and Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica). The Hauts-Plateaux area is essentially a huge basin, c. 950 km in length, lying at an altitude of c. 1000 to 1400 m between the parallel mountains ranges of the Tell Atlas to the north and the Saharan Atlas to the south. This basin, which is 190 km at its widest point, includes a series of depressions running along a central south-west to north-east axis that support in some places shallow saline wetlands (Chotts and Sebkhas), which are seasonally flooded and become more saline as they gradually dry out. The region covers 13% of the country and hosts 26.5% of its population. The annual precipitation of the region is c.150-400 mm and agriculture is limited to the cultivation of salt-tolerant cereals; natural vegetation is represented mainly by steppes of Stipa tenacissima, Artemisia herba-alba and Lygeum spartum. The Saharan area is essentially a vast arid to desertic area characterized by very little rainfall (< 100 mm per annum) and only ephemeral streams. The Sahara desert is not homogenous and takes on many forms. In the far north-west it consists of stony and gravely desertic high land known as the Hamada du Draâ. Eastwards, the southern slopes of the Saharian Atlas descend over a distance of c. 250 km to a central depression at an altitude of 200-500 m running south-west to north-east and filled by extensive ergs (vast sandy desertic areas with mobile dunes). In the centre of the region the land rises up to the stony plateau of Tademait, while further south it drops away into the Tidikelt depression that lies at an altitude of less than 200 m. Southwards and eastwards of this depression, the land rises again through a series of mountains of different heights, including Mount Tahat (ca. 3000 m), the highest peak in Algeria. This mountainous area, with its deep canyons and high plateaux, delimitate the Hoggar-Tassili region that can be considered as a fourth topographic and climatic region of Algeria due to its situation that make it under the influence of the West African monsoon. The whole Saharan region covers 83% of the country, but hosts only 8.5% of its population in several oases developed from underground rivers or aquifers. Agriculture, in almost all cases limited to the oases, is based on the cultivation of the date palm and food crops. Natural vegetation cover is very scarce and represented mainly by highly adapted bushes and trees. 47 Fig. 1- Major biogeographical/bioclimatic regions of Algeria (see text for details) Data Collection The species listed here were compiled from bibliographical, herbarium online database. A main list of Algerian PFA has been developed and the taxa are given in alphabetical sequence of orders, families and genera. The names of authors of fungal taxa are abbreviated according to Kirk and Ansell (1992) and Kirk et al. (2008). Species of each group were given in a taxonomic sequence and accepted names are highlighted in bold. The systematic arrangement in the present list follows the system of classification of Martin et al. (1983). Name corrections, authorities, and taxonomic assignments of all taxa reported in this work were checked against the databases nomen.eumycetozoa (http://eumycetozoa.com/data/index.php) (Lado (2005-2018) and Index fungorum (www. indexfungorum.org). Result and Discussion This survey based on the analysis of bibliographic sources and catalogs of herbaria holding Algerian fungal material allowed us to delineate 99 species of PFA that have been reported for Algeria (Tab. 1). These species that belongs to 6 orders and 31 genera are dominated by Physarales (49 species) which represent circa 50% of all reported species. After Physarales, Trichiales (25 species), Stemonitales (14 species) and Liceales (8 species) appears as the two other main components of the Algerian PFA mycobiota while the two other order represented in Algeria Ceratoxyxiales and Echinosteliales and which are more less speciose are both represented by only one species each. This diversity is rather consistent since it represent respectively 1/4 of this reported for Meditteranean area by Lado (1994) and 1/3 of this reported for Africa by Ndiritu et al. (2009). 48 Almost of the AFP species reported for Algeria were reported from the Tell area where abundant precipitations and the presence of great number of forests are favorable to their implantation and persistence. Therefore five coprophilous PFA species were obtained in moist chamber from mammalian dung material (Dromedary, Hare, Gundi, Barbary Sheep) collected from the Saharan desert area. The report in a relatively recent study done by Rojas and Stephenson (2010) and the presence in BR herbarium of several species of PFA that have not been yet reported in the literature as occurring in Algeria indicate that the country is seemingly poorly explored from the PFA point of view and almost certainly contains many other taxa yet to be discovered. We trust that this Checklist of Algerian PFA, will encourage scientists to investigate an important component of Algeria’s biodiversity and to make it better known to the world’s scientific community. Table 1 – Summary of the systematic distribution of the taxa of PFA reported for Algeria Orders Taxa Genera Species Varieties Forms Ceratiomyxales 1 1 1 0 0 Echinosteliales 1 1 1 0 0 Liceales 8 6 8 0 0 Stemonitales 14 7 14 0 0 Physarales 49 9 49 0 0 Trichiales 24 7 24 0 0 Total number 97 31 97 0 0 Checklist of Algerian Protozoan Fungal Analogs Abbreviations used #Newly reported taxa: Taxa preceded by # are new to Algeria. [Herbaria Specimens]: The herbaria specimens cited are between square brackets with the corresponding collector name. Cited herbaria: BR = Botanical Garden Meise (Belgium), MPU = Montpellier (France) Biogeographical areas cited (see Figure 1): TA = Tellian area, SD = Saharan Desert area – Taxon abundance: C : Common, F : Frequent, R : Rare. Origin of the taxa: F : Field collected, M : cultivated in moist chamber. Ceratiomyxales 1. Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa (O.F. Müll.) T. Macbr. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA –R : Decaying wood (Populus alba F, Ulmus campestris F). Echinosteliales 2. Echinostelium minutum de Bary Rojas & Stephenson (2010), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Decaying woodF (Cedrus atlanticaM), Ground litterM, Aerial litterM. 49 Liceales 3. Cribraria aurantiaca Schrad. Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF. 4. Cribraria cancellata (Batsch) Nann.-Bremek. (syn. Dictydium cancellatum) Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF. 5. #Cribraria violacea Rex [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Decaying wood (Quercus faginea M). 6. Licea rugosa Nann.-Bremek. & Y. Yamam. (syn. L. rugosa var. fujiokana) Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Decaying woodM. 7. Lycogala epidendrum (J.C. Buxb. ex L.) Fr. Massee (1892), Duthie (1917), Maire et al. (1926), Malençon (1952), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying wood (Populus albaF, Quercus afaresF, Q. ilexF, Q. suberF). 8. Reticularia lycoperdon Bull. (syn. R. umbrina, Enteridium lycoperdon) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying wood (Pinus halepensisF, Populis albaF). 9. Tubifera ferruginosa (Batsch) J.F. Gmel.(syn. T. arachnoidea) Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Salix albaF). 10. Dictydiaethalium plumbeum (Schumach.) Rostaf. ex Lister (syn. Clathroptychium rugulosum, Lycogala lenticulare) Durieu (1846), Montagne (1857), Rostafiński (1875), Massee (1892), Saccardo (1888), Duthie (1917) , Lister (1925), Maire et al. (1926), Buchet et al. (1920), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA – C : Decaying wood (Alnus glutinosaF, Cytisus triflorusF), Bark. Stemonitales 11. Comatricha nigra (Pers.) J. Schröt. (syn. Stemonitis oblonga, S. ovata) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying wood (Ericae arboreaeF, Ulmus campestrisF), Plant debris (Agaves spF, Daphne gnidioidesF). 12. Comatricha pulchella (C. Bab.) Rostaf. Faurel et al. (1964), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) SD - R : Barbary sheep DungM (Ammotragus lervia) from Sahara. 13. Comatricha tenerrima (M.A. Curtis) G. Lister Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Decaying woodM. 50 14. Diachea leucopoda (Bull.) Rostaf. (syn. D. elegans) Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1874), Maire et al. (1926), Buchet et al. (1920), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010), Djelloul et al. (2014) TA - C : Ground litterF. 15. Lamproderma arcyrioides (Sommerf.) Rostaf. (syn. L. violaceum) Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Cedrus atlanticaF). 16. Lamproderma columbinum (Pers.) Rostaf. Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litterF. 17. #Lamproderma ovoideum Meyl. [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Dead stems of herbaceous plants. 18. #Meriderma carestiae (Ces. & De Not.) Mar. Mey. & Poulain (syn. Lamproderma carestiae) [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Dead stems of herbaceous plants F, Aerial litter (Asphodelus sp.F). 19. Stemonitis axifera (Bull.) T. Macbr. (syn. S. ferruginea) Rostafiński (1874), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Djelloul et al. (2014) TA - R : Decaying wood (Quercus suberF). 20. Stemonitis fusca Roth Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1874), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010), [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - F : Decaying wood (Alnus glutinosaF, Quercus ilexF). 21. Stemonitis splendens Rostaf. Maire et al. (1926), Buchet et al. (1920), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Quercus suberF). 22. Stemonitopsis typhina (F.H. Wigg.) Nann.-Bremek. (syn. Stemonitis typhoides, Comatricha typhina, C. typhoides) Durieu (1846), Saccardo (1888), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - F : Decaying wood (Quercus suberF, Ricinus spF.). 23. Symphytocarpus confluens (Cooke & Ellis) Ing & Nann.-Bremek (syn. Stemonitis confluens) Buchet et al. (1920), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Ulmus campestrisF). 24. Symphytocarpus trechisporus (Berk. ex Torrend) Nann.-Bremek. (syn. Stemonitis fusca var. trechispora, S. trechispora) Buchet et al. (1920), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Plant debris (Ricinus sp.F). 51 Physarales 25. Badhamia affinis Rostaf. Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Decaying woodF, Aerial litterF. 26. Badhamia capsulifera (Bull.) Berk. Maire et al. (1926), [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Decaying wood (Pinus sp.F), Bark (Cedrus atlanticaM). 27. Badhamia foliicola Lister Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litter (Ulmus campestrisF). 28. Badhamia macrocarpa (Ces.) Rostaf. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Plant debris (Opuntia sp. F). 29. Badhamia panicea (Fr.) Rostaf. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : On mosses bedF. 30. Craterium aureum (Schumach.) Rostaf. (syn. C. mutabile) Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1874), Massee (1892), Saccardo (1888), Duthie (1917) , Buchet et al. (1920), Lister (1925), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying woodF, BarksF, Ground litterF. 31. Craterium leucocephalum (Pers. ex J.F. Gmel.) Ditmar Faurel et al. (1964), Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979) SD - R : Dromedary dung from Sahara desertM. 32. #Diderma asteroides (Lister & G. Lister) G. Lister Botanic Garden Meise Herbarium TA - R : Deacying wood (Ilex aquifolium F). 33. Diderma globosum Pers. Durieu (1846), Macbride & Martin (1934), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Living and dry twigsF. 34. Diderma hemisphaericum (Bull.) Hornem. Maire et al. (1926), Buchet et al. (1920), Lister (1925), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litter (Erophaca baeticaF). 35. Diderma peyerimhoffii (Maire & Pinoy) H. Neubert, Nowotny & K. Baumann (syn. D. nivale, D. trevelyanii var. nivale) Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [MPU, Maire R.C.J.E. 1915] TA - R : Ground litter (Acer obtusatum F). 36. Diderma radiatum (Rostaf.) Morgan Maire et al. (1926), Macbride & Martin (1934), Faurel et al. (1964), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Plant debrisF. 52 37. Diderma simplex (J. Schröt.) G. Lister Faurel et al. (1964), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Ndiritu et al. (2009) SD - R : Dung of hare from Sahara desert PlantM. 38. Diderma spumarioides (Fr.) Fr. Rostafiński (1874), Faurel et al. (1964), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Decaying woodF, Ground litterF, living or decaying twigs of Euphorbia sp.F. 39. Diderma testaceum (Schrad.) Pers. Duthie (1917), Macbride & Martin (1934), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F). 40. Diderma umbilicatum Pers. Durieu (1846), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying herbaceous plant materialF. 41. Didymium anellus Morgan Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Decaying woodM, Aerial litterM, Ground litterM. 42. Didymium crustaceum Fr. Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926) , Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying plant materialF. 43. Didymium difforme (Pers.) Gray syn. Diderma difforme) Durieu (1846), Faurel et al. (1964), Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - F : Decaying plant materialFM. 44. Didymium eximium Peck (syn. Didymium nigripes var. eximium) Maire et al. (1926), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litter F. 45. Didymium iridis (Ditmar) Fr. (syn. D. nigripes var. xanthopus, D. xanthopus) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - F : Decaying wood F, ground litter (Eryobotrya japonicaF). 46. #Didymium leptotrichum (Racib.) Massee [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Ground and Aerial litter (Asphodelus sp.F). 47. Didymium megalosporum Berk. & M.A. Curtis Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litter F. 48. Didymium melanospermum (Pers.) T. Macbr. (syn. D. farinaceum, D. lobatum, D. sinuosum) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF, Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F). 49. Didymium minus (Lister) Morgan Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Aerial litter M. 53 50. Didymium nigripes (Link) Fr. (syn. D. porphyropus) Durieu (1846), Montagne (1857), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - F : Ground litter (Quercus sp.F). 51. Didymium serpula Fr. (syn. D. complanatum, Lycoperdon complanatum) Desfontaines (1799), Maire et al. (1926) TA - R : Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F). 52. Didymium squamulosum (Alb. & Schwein.) Fr. (syn. D. costatum, D. fuckelianum, D. herbarum) Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1874), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Faurel et Schotter (1964-65), Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - C : Ground litterF, Plant debrisFM. 53. Didymium vaccinum (Durieu & Mont.) Buchet (syn. D. trochus, Chondrioderma vaccinum) Durieu (1846), Montagne (1857), Rostafiński (1874), Massee (1892), Saccardo (1888), Lister (1925), Maire et al. (1926), Maire & Werner (1938), Buchet et al. (1920), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - F : Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F). 54. Fuligo septica (L.) F.H. Wigg. (syn. F. septica var. candida, Aethalium septicum) Durieu (1846), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Quercus suberF, Q afaresF), stems of herbaceous plantsF. 55. Leocarpus fragilis (Dicks.) Rostaf. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litter (Pinus halepensis, Quercus ilexF, Q. ilexF,), Plant debris (Juniperus sp.F), Mosses bed. 56. Lepidoderma trevelyanii (Grev.) Poulain & Mar. Mey. (syn. Diderma Trevelyani Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Decaying wood (Cedrus atlantica F) 57. Mucilago crustacea P. Micheli ex F.H. Wigg. (syn. M. spongiosa, Spumaria alba) Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1874), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Ground litter (Juniperus phoeniceaF), Living stems and leaves of grassesF. 58. Physarum album (Bull.) Chevall. (P. nutans) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying woodF. 59. Physarum bivalve Pers. (syn. P. sinuosum) Rostafiński (1874), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Cups of chesnut treeF (Castanea sativa). 60. Physarum cinereum (Batsch) Pers. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Stems and leaves (Vicia sp.F). 54 61. Physarum compressum Alb. & Schwein. Feldmann (1933), Faurel et al. (1964), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Decaying woodF, Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F, Agaves sp. F) 62. Physarum contextum (Pers.) Pers. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litter (Ulmus campestrisF). 63. Physarum didermoides (Ach. ex Pers.) Rostaf. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Faurel et Schotter (1964-65), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA & SD - R : Leaves of date palmF, Manure (Hamma botanical gardenF), Dromedary dung from sahara desertM. 64. Physarum echinosporum Lister Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Aerial litterM. 65. Physarum leucophaeum Fr. (syn. P. nutans var. leucophaeum) Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Plant debrisF. 66. Physarum leucopus Link Faurel et al. (1964), Faurel et Schotter (1964-65), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) SD - R : Dromedary dung from Sahara-desertM. 67. Physarum licheniforme (Szabó ex Schwein.) Lado (syn. P. lividum) Rostafiński (1874), Massee (1892), Saccardo (1888) TA - R : Plant debris (Opuntia sp. F). 68. Physarum nucleatum Rex Faurel et al. (1964), , Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) SD - R : Gundi dungM (Ctenodactylus gundi) from Sahara desert. 69. Physarum pusillum (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) G. Lister (syn. P. calidris) Buchet et al. (1920), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F). 70. Physarum utriculare (Bull.) Chevall. (syn. Badhamia utricularis) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F, Agaves sp.F, Chamaerops sp. F). 71. Physarum vernum Sommerf. Feldmann (1933), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF. 72. Physarum virescens Ditmar Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Ground litterF. 73. Physarum viride (Bull.) Pers. Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF. 55 Trichiales 74. #Arcyria affinis Rostaf. [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Decaying wood (Quercus fagineaF). 75. Arcyria cinerea (Bull.) Pers. Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1875by records(, Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010), [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - F : Decaying wood (Alnus glutinosaF, Coriolis versicolorF, Cedrus atlanticaM*, Quercus fagineaM…), decaying leaves (Quercus fagineaM). 76. Arcyria denudata (L.) Wettst. (syn. A. punicea) Durieu (1846), Maire & al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Djelloul et al. (2014) TA - F : Decaying wood (Laurus nobilisF., Olea sp.F). 77. Arcyria incarnata (Pers.) Pers. Maire (1906), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Quercus suber F, Ulmus sp.F, Fomes sp.F). 78. #Arcyria minuta Buchet (syn. A. carnea) [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Decaying wood (Cedrus atlanticaM). 79. Arcyria obvelata (Oeder) Onsberg (syn. A. nutans) Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying wood (Quercus ilex F). 80. Arcyria oerstedii Rostaf. Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF. 81. Hemitrichia clavata (Pers.) Rostaf. (syn. Trichia clavata) Durieu (1846), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood F. 82. Hemitrichia serpula (Scop.) Rostaf. (syn. Trichia serpula) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Plant debris (Opuntia sp.F). 83. Metatrichia vesparium (Batsch) Nann.-Bremek. ex G.W. Martin & Alexop. Durieu (1846), Lado (1994) TA - R : Decaying wood F. 84. Oligonema flavidum (Peck) Peck (syn. Oligonema minutulum) Massee (1892), Saccardo (1892), (Maire et al. (1926), Buchet et al. (1920), Macbride & Martin (1934), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : – No information on substrate available. 85. Perichaena corticalis (Batsch) Rostaf. (syn. P. populina) Durieu (1846), Rostafiński (1874), Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Eliasson & Lundqvist (1979), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Populis albaF). 56 86. Perichaena depressa Lib. Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), Rojas & Stephenson (2010) TA - R : Decaying wood (Populus albaF), Aerial litter, Ground litter. 87. Perichaena vermicularis (Schwein.) Rostaf. Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Bark (Cupressus sempervirensF). 88. #Prototrichia metallica (Berk.) Massee [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Decaying wood (Cedrus atlanticaF). 89. Trichia affinis de Bary Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Populus albaF). 90. Trichia botrytis (Pers.) Pers. Faurel et al. (1964), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Eucalyptus sp.F). 91. #Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Bark (Cedrus atlanticaM), living and dead twigs (Euphorbia sp.F). 92. Trichia decipiens (Pers.) T. Macbr. Maire et al. (1926), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009), [BR - Rammello J. 1984]. TA - R : Decaying wood (Cedrus atlanticaF). 93. *Trichia crateriformis G.W. Martin (Syn. Trichia decipiens var. olivacea) [BR - Rammello J. 1984] TA - R : Decaying wood (Cedrus atlanticaM). 94. Trichia favoginea (Batsch) Pers. (syn. T. chrysosperma, T. nitens) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Macbride & Martin (1934), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - F : Decaying wood (Alnus sp.F, Quercus sp.F), Barks F. 95. Trichia flavicoma (Lister) Ing (syn. T. botrytis var. flavicoma) Maire et al. (1926), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Eucalyptus sp. F). 96. Trichia persimilis P. Karst. Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying woodF. 97. Trichia varia (Pers.) Pers. (syn. T.varia var. aurata, T. nigripes) Durieu (1846), Maire et al. (1926), Macbride & Martin (1934), Faurel et al. (1964), Lado (1994), Ndiritu et al. (2009) TA - R : Decaying wood (Alnus glutinosaF, Quercus afaresF, Q canariensisF, Ulmus campestrisF). 57 Erraneous or dubious taxa 1. Diderma niveum (Rostaf.) T. Macbr. Ndiritu et al. (2009) [This taxon cited for Algeria only by Ndiritu et. al. (2009) must be considered as dubious since we did not find additional references or herbarium material supporting it presence in Algeria] 2. Didymium capitatum Link Durieu (1846) [Considered by Rostafiński (1874) as synonym of Cionium farinaceum Link and by Saccardo (1888) as synonym of Didymium farinaceum Schrad both corresponding to Didymium melanospermum (Pers.) T. Macbr., listed in this checklist.] 3. Didymium physaroides (Pers.) Fr. Durieu (1846) [Cited by Durieu (1846) as Didymium physaroides Fr. by considering it as synonym of Spumaria Physaroides Pers. while Rostafinski (1874) considered the material of Durieu as Physarum lividum Rostaff. whicn correspond to Physarum licheniforme (Szabó ex Schwein.) Lado, listed in this checklist.] 4. Oligonema schweinitzii (Berk.) G.W. Martin (syn. O. nitens) Buchet et al. (1912), Macbride & Martin (1934), Ndiritu et al. (2009) [This taxa reported by Buchet et al. (1912) and Ndiritu et al. (2009) for Algeria must be removed from the list of species assigned to this country and seemingly for North-Africa. Indeed, G. Lister after examination of the herbarium specimen submitted to her appreciation by Buchet et al. (1912) under label Trichia minutula considered this material as pertaining to Oligonema flavidum (Peck) Peck. Faurel and al. (1964) were of the same opinion as G. 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