Ingoldian fungal assemblages from Brazilian rainforests, shrubland and savanna

ABSTRACT

Ingoldian fungi are a dominant group in aquatic environments. However, they are poorly known and studied, especially in the tropics. To increase knowledge about their diversity and distribution, samples of foam and decaying submerged leaves were collected from 12 areas in Brazil across four biomes (Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Cerrado). Slides were deposited in the HUEFS Herbarium. Thirty-five taxa were identified from foam and 24 from leaf spore suspension. These were distributed in five classes, mostly belonging to Ascomycota, with Leotiomycetes being the most representative class. Angulospora aquatica, Biflagellosporella amazonensis, Isthmotricladia laeensis and Lateriramulosa bi-inflata are new records for Brazil; Variocladium rangiferinum and Tricladium fuscum are new records for the Neotropics; and Polylobatispora deltoidea is a new record for the Americas. Description, illustration, and geographical distribution details are provided for the new records. The study showed a high richness of Ingoldian fungi and provides a basis for determining the biodiversity and ultimate conservation of the studied areas.

KEYWORDS:

• Aquatic fungi
• aquatic environments
• biodiversity
• hyphomycetes
• tropical microfungi

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to colleagues who voluntarily collected samples: Alberto Neto (RD), Aline Matos (PNBN), Bianca Boldrini (BV), Silvana Santos da Silva (SFP), and the members of AQUARIPÁRIA/CNPq group (mainly Luiz Ubiratan Hepp^, Yara Moretto, José Francisco Gonçalves Júnior). They also thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente (SEMA-MT).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by CNPQ [grant numbers 150829/2017-5, 303062/2014-2].