New species of glowing mushrooms named after Mozart's Requiem

About | Contact | Mongabay on Facebook | Mongabay on Twitter | Free newsletter

SHARE:

New species of glowing mushrooms named after Mozart's Requiem
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
October 14, 2009

Classical musical genius, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, probably never expected his music to inspire mycologists, but fungi researchers have announced in the journal Mycologia that two new species of glowing mushroom are named after movements in the composer's Requiem: Mycena luxaeterna (eternal light) and Mycena luxperpetua (perpetual light).

The glowing fungi species—seven in total—were discovered in surveys around the world, including Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico. Four of the species are completely new to science—including the two named after the Requiem—while the other three were known, but their luminescent properties came as a surprise.

Top: cutting the tiger loose. Bottom: readying the animal for transport. Photos by WWF-Malaysia.

"It's pretty unusual to find this many luminescent species, typically only two to five percent of the species we collect in the field glow," said lead author Dennis Desjardin of San Francisco State University. "I'm certain there are more out there."

Desjardin's discoveries raise the number of known luminescent fungi species from 64 to 71. The new tiny mushroom species—measuring about a centimeter across—glow continuously with a yellowish-green light. Desjardin says that he believes the mushrooms evolved luminescence in order to attract nocturnal animals to facilitate dispersion of the mushroom's spores.

An avid mycologist, Desjardin has uncovered more than 200 new fungi species and nearly a quarter of all glowing mushrooms.

Related articles

600 species of mushrooms discovered in Guyana

(07/21/2008) In six plots of Guyanese rainforest, measuring only a hundred square meters each, scientists have discovered an astounding 1200 species of macrofungi, commonly known as mushrooms. Even more surprising: they believe over 600 of these are new to science — that's equivalent to a new species every square meter.

CITATION:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com (October 14, 2009). New species of glowing mushrooms named after Mozart's Requiem. http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1013-hance_fungi_glow.html

Tags:
plants fungi new species species discovery japan malaysia Belize brazil strange Caribbean carribean Dominican Republic southeast asia jeremy hance green environment awaymad biodiversity

print

Environmental news index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home

Advertisements:

Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt		Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog		Licking this frog may make you crazy

DON'T LIKE ADS? Become a mongabay supporter

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

RECENT FEATURES

		As Amazon deforestation falls, food production rises
		Biggest environmental news stories of 2011
		The year in review for rainforests
		Our top nature pictures of 2011

Photos

Brazil	China	Colombia
Costa Rica	Deforestation	Gabon
India	Indonesia	Kenya
Madagascar	Peru	Rainforest

ABOUT
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com

CALENDARS

BOOKS BY MONGABAY AUTHORS

Conservation in an age of mass extinction

FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS

Copyright mongabay 2010

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect,
an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region.
Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant.