New Species Discovered in Latvia | [Year] Update

Kluša spotted the speciesm in the yard of a multi-storey building on a living tree in Iļģuciems, near Buļļu Street. This is a very typical place for slime mould growing on live trees, which like urban environments, she explained.

“I went to study the slime mould on living trees near my home in Rīga. Nothing on the first three trees. On the fourth – by-it! – a new species in Latvia,” the researcher posted on the communication platform ’X” about her delightful find.

This summer is very good for the slime mould, Kluša told LSM.lv:

“You can’t rest this summer, they are growing all the time. The slime mould had waited for this summer.”

Slime mould growing on living trees is a rather unexplored topic not only in Latvia, but also worldwide, as they are typically found in forests on fallen trees, where they are more abundant and easier to spot.

“It is difficult to spot them on living trees because they are very small species – 0.3-1 mm in diameter – and they are usually unremarkable in colour, adapting to the environment where they grow,” the researcher explained.

She also admitted that studying slime mould in the city is not convenient: “Standing with a torch in front of a tree. People walk by and look.”

In a conversation with LSM.lv, Diāna Meiere, Chair of the Board of the Latvian Mycological Society, stressed that Kluša’s contribution to the research of slime fungi in Latvia is very important:

“What she has done for the slime moulds is a heroic feat.”

Meier explained that a separate scientific confirmation that the slime mould found is a new discovery in Latvia is not necessary: “Julita is enough of a specialist that her name is enough. She has microscoped it, compared it with the determinants and no further confirmation is needed.”

Currently, 270 species of slime moulds have been identified in Latvia.

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