Myxos and Musings: A Delightful Journey into the Little Known World of Myxomycetes

Myxos, or Myxomycetes, are an intriguing member of the Amoebozoa family, spending much of their life as single-celled organisms. Often strikingly beautiful, they generally go unnoticed due to their minute size and are studied by fewer than ten people in Australia.  Myxomycetes produce masses of colourful fruiting bodies—a spectacle to behold. With around 1,200 species known to science, this number continues to grow, suggesting that many more species are yet to be discovered.  Steve Young now dedicates his time to study Myxomycetes and their life cycles  using super macro-photography to document their beauty with unmatched precision.  He manages to capture these elusive organisms, sometimes in their natural habitats but generally in a controlled studio environment.  The Myxomycetes he documents range from 3–4mm down to less than 0.5mm, requiring a specialised approach to produce high-quality images, some of which feature subjects as small as 100 microns (0.1mm).  The subjects range from the lush rainforests of the Mid North Coast of NSW to the arid landscapes of South West Queensland’s Eromanga region.

Steve is also working in collaboration with the Eromanga Natural History Museum, exploring the presence of Mysomycetes in this arid Australian Environment, thus adding valuable knowledge to this under-explored field.

The book received a Bronze medal in the 2024 Independent Publishers Book Awards.