New dictyostelid cellular slime molds from South Africa

A distributional study of the dictyostelid cellular slime molds (dictyostelids) of South Africa was carried out during 2006 as part of the Global Biodiversity of Eumycetozoans project based at the University of Arkansas and funded by the National Science Foundation. Samples of soil/humus collected from 31 study sites yielded a total of 881 clones, with an average density of 210 clones/gram for all samples in which dictyostelids were detected. Eighteen different species were represented by one or more clones, and six of these could not be identified. These six species are described herein as new to science. In addition, information is provided on the ecological distribution of all of the species of dictyostelids now known to occur in South Africa.