Gaussian kernel probability-driven slime mould algorithm with new movement mechanism for multi-level image segmentation

•An improved slime mould algorithm (MGSMA) is proposed for image segmentation.•An effective multi-level image segmentation based on MGSMA is developed.•The performance of MGSMA is verified by comparing with some well-known peers.•MGSMA effectively optimizes segmentation process and improves segmentation results.