New species and new records of aquatic asexual ascomycetes from estuarine beaches of the Brazilian Amazon

ABSTRACT

Estuaries are habitats characterised by high biological productivity; however, fungal biodiversity in these ecosystems remains understudied. During an investigation of asexual ascomycetes associated with decaying twigs in the intertidal zone of fluvial beaches on Mosqueiro Island, Pará, Brazil, three new species have been proposed based on their morphological characteristics. These new species are Bactrodesmium amazonicum sp. nov., Craspedodydymum brasiliense sp. nov., and Cancellidium estuarinum sp. nov. Additionally, new records of Cumulospora marina for the Americas and Virgariella caribensis, the second recorded instance in the world, have been reported. The results include descriptions, taxonomic comments, geographic distribution, and illustrations, all contributing to the knowledge of estuarine fungal diversity.

KEYWORDS:

• Asexual Ascomycota
• taxonomy
• tropical fungi
• Amazonian fungi
• hyphomycetes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Luana T. do Carmo for collecting the material on Ilha do Mosqueiro. The first author would like to thank the Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia de Fungos (PPGBF/UFPE) and the Fundação de Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE - proc. IBPG-0466-2.03/21). The second author would like to thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq - proc. 312984/2018-9) for financial support and grant.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico: [Grant Number CNPq - proc. 312984/2018-9]; Fundação de Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco: [Grant Number FACEPE - proc. IBPG-0466-2.03/21]; This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.