New records of slime moulds found during BioBlitz

Lamproderma splendidissimum, is a new species record for BC found at Callaghan Lake during the spring Whislter Naturalist BioBlitz. Photo credit: Tyson Ehlers

The Whistler Naturalists invited my Slime Mould colleagues (Ryan Durand and Tyson Ehlers)

and me to the first-ever Whistler Slime BioBlitz, and boy, did we have fun!!!

Slime moulds (Myxomycetes) are strange little guys, not plants, or fungi, or animals. Slime

moulds are protists, single-celled amoebae, that live in the soil of every continent on earth.

When the time is right for reproduction, they crawl out of the ground and transform into

complicated structures that produce spores.

To learn more about slime moulds, researchers have put food out arranged to imitate the nodes

of the Tokyo subway system to see how efficiently the slime mould Physarum polycephalum

hunts for its food. It turns out the slime mould made some efficiencies the subway engineers

had missed. Another “famous” slime is Fuligo septica which can grow quite large, at least in the

slime mould terms. This slime mould inspired the 1958 science fiction horror movie “The Blob”.

Going from the laboratory to the classroom, during the BioBlitz, we gave several classroom

presentations to students of all ages. Trying to teach 6-year-olds about slime moulds quickly

brought out the grandma in me – they were all such awesome little people, even the ones who

couldn’t quite behave. We also gave a community presentation one evening.

Prototrichia Metallica, Callaghan Lake, June 8, 2024. Photo by Tyson Elhers

But for us, the best part is always when we are outdoors looking for slime moulds – especially

snowmelt slime moulds. Snowmelt (or “nivicolous”) slime moulds are adapted to developing

under a persistent snowpack, and happily, there is no shortage of perfect environments for them

in the Whistler area.

Polyschismium chailletii, Callaghan Lake, June 8, 2024. Photo by Tyson Ehlers

I live on Saturna Island, far from those snowy conditions. Tyson and Ryan live in the Kootenays

where, like Whistler, it snows enough for snowmelt slimes. They introduced me to the joy of

collecting snowmelt slimes. Snowmelt slimes are so much fun because they are relatively

abundant, especially compared to what I find on the Gulf Islands.

You might have seen us crawling up the Blackcomb ski run, examining the twigs, branches,

dead grass and dead wood that snow melt slimes fruit on. Or watched us working our way

through the bushes at Callaghan Lake looking for the perfect snow patch with a bunch of new

slime aficionados in tow.

Lamproderma pulveratum, Blackcomb Mountain, June 7, 2024. Photo by Tyson Ehlers

And we were so successful that we haven’t had time to examine all our treasures. Together, we

collected over 300 specimens, most of which will require microscopy to positively identify. So

far, we have confirmed around 30 species that are all new records for Whistler, and some for

BC, Canada, and even North America. Many of our other finds have only a handful of

documented occurrences in BC.

I could write more, but the best way to appreciate slimes is by photos. The small ones – some

less than 5 millimeters are the most beautiful. It is a wonder-world of iridescence, pastels, and

intricate fruiting bodies.

We offer special thanks to the Whistler Naturalists for being such exceptional hosts and for all

they do to promote biodiversity and conservation for Whistler.

Written by: Pam Janzsen with special thanks to Tyson Ehlers and Ryan Durand

#slimemould #myxo