Eight species new to science discovered in Long Lake Park

Professor Doug Strongman, a biologist at Saint Mary’s University, has many interests among which are the trichomycetes. “The what?” you may ask! These are fungi that live inside the guts of the larvae of aquatic insects such as mayflies and stoneflies, so it’s unlikely you will ever have seen one. All the same, trichomycetes are a part of the wonderful diversity of living organisms that make up Earth’s life system. They don’t hurt the insects but are ‘commensal’, meaning that both the insects and the fungi get along together without any harm done. Indeed, they may help each other in ways that are not yet understood. It is remarkable that Professor Strongman and his colleagues have found eight entirely new species of trichomycetes within the guts of insects that were collected from both streams and lakes in Long Lake Provincial Park. Shown below is Bactromyces fluminalis which was extracted from a stonefly larva (photo by Professor Strongman). Stoneflies can be found in and around streams that run into Long Lake, like the one in the photograph below.

To read more about the Bactromyces and Professor Strongman’s work, click here.