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The fungal community associated with marine crabs is poorly known, except for the fungi causing diseases of marine animals of economic value. In this study we examined the diversity of fungi cultured from carapace and gut of the marine crab Portunus sanguinolentus, and the identification was based on nucleotide BLAST search results of the internal transcribed spacers of rDNA (ITS). A total of 256 fungal isolates representing 23 species were cultured from seven individuals of P. sanguinolentus including two unidentified species. The majority of the species belong to the Ascomycota, while three species of the Basidiomycota were isolated from the gut. Overall, Candida tropicalis (45.70 %, percentage occurrence), Apiotrichum lignicola (8.98 %) and Rhodotorula sp. (8.20 %) were the dominant fungi on the crab. The most dominant fungi on the carapace were C. tropicalis (66.95 %), Emericellopsis maritima (8.47 %), A. lignicola and Purpureocillium lilacinum (both 4.24 %). In the gut, C. tropicalis (27.54 %), A. lignicola (16.67 %), Rhodotorula sp. (15.22 %) and Fusarium solani (14.49 %) were dominant. The fungal diversity in the gut of P. sanguinolentus was higher than on the carapace according to the diversity indices. Although some of the isolated fungi were reported to be pathogenic, none were reported as pathogens of crabs, and no disease symptoms were noticed from the crab samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a new marine fungus, Lanspora dorisauae (Phomatosporales, Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota), on trapped wood collected in coastal sites of Taiwan. This new fungus was subjected to a morphological examination and a phylogenetic study based on a combined analysis of the 18S, 28S, ITS rDNA, TEF1-a and RPB2 genes. Lanspora dorisauae is characterized by dark-coloured ascomata with a short neck, periphysate ostioles, subclavate, deliquescing asci without an apical ring, presence of wide paraphyses, striated wall ascospores with crown-like appendages on one pole of the ascospores. Phylogenetically, L. dorisauae grouped with Lanspora coronata (type species) with strong support. Lanspora coronata lacks paraphyses and appendages occur on both ends of the ascospores, while paraphyses are present and ascospore appendage is unipolar in L. dorisauae. Lanspora cylindrospora formed a sister clade with L. coronata and L. dorisauae, but it significantly differs in morphology with the latter two species in having cylindrical asci with an apical Jring, smooth ascospore wall and no ascospore appendages, and may be better referred to a new genus. Lanspora, together with Phomatospora and Tenuimurus, belong to the Phomatosporaceae, Phomatosporales. Phomatospora berkeleyi should be sequenced to test the validity of the order Phomatosporales and the family Phomatosporaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the morphological diversity of arenicolous marine fungi (only those forming fruiting bodies on sand grains) at 11 sandy beaches in Taiwan. The species of Corollospora were identified by ascospore morphology and confirmed through a phylogenetic analysis of the 28S rDNA with other published sequences. The phylogenetic analysis revealed four previously unknown clades of Corollospora spp. related to C. portsaidica, while differences in ascospore morphology of the isolates in these four clades were observed. A total of 13 species of arenicolous marine fungi was identified from the 11 sandy beaches, including two Arenariomyces spp., nine Corollospora spp. (including four unknown Corollospora clades), Kohlmeyeriella crassa and Carbosphaerella cf sp. Taan Beach had the highest species richness (eight species), followed by Yongzhen Sea Park and Pisirian (five species each). The Shannon's diversity index revealed the highest diversity at Taan Beach (1.51) over Pisirian (1.44), but the diversity was more even at the latter site (Pielou's evenness index = 0.9) compared with the former (0.73). Non-metric multidimensional scaling suggests that there was generally a divide in the fungal community composition between the east and the west coasts of Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi cause diseases in a variety of marine animal hosts. After a thorough review of published literature, we identified 225 fungal species causing infections of 193 animal species, for a total of 357 combinations of pathogenic fungi and marine animal hosts. Among the 193 animal host species, Chordata (100 species, 51.8 %) and Arthropoda (68 species, 35.2 %) were discovered to be the most frequently reported hosts of fungal pathogens. Microsporidia (111 species, 49.3 %) constitutes over half of the described pathogenic fungal species of marine animals, followed by Ascomycota (85 species, 37.8 %), Mucoromycota (22 species, 9.8 %), Basidiomycota (6 species, 2.7 %) and Chytridiomycota (1 species, 0.4 %). Microsporidia primarily parasitize marine arthropods and Teleostei fish, while Basidiomycota are primarily known to cause respiratory diseases of marine mammals. Ascomycota has a diverse host range, from mammals, fish, crustaceans, soft corals and sea turtle. Few Mucoromycota and Chytridiomycota were reported to infect marine animals. Fungal diseases documented in this review likely represent a fraction of fungal diseases in the ocean, where it was estimated to be inhabited by 2.15 million animal species. Intensification of aquaculture practices, global warming and marine pollution may increase fungal disease outbreak of marine animals. All the topics mentioned above will be discussed in greater details in this review. • 225 fungal species cause infections of 193 marine animal species. • Chordata and Arthropoda are the main reported hosts of fungal pathogens. • Microsporidia is the major group of pathogenic fungi of marine animals. • Ascomycota has a diverse marine animal host range. • Few Mucoromycota and Chytridiomycota infect marine animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on fungi occurring on marine crabs have been mostly related to those causing infections/diseases. To better understand the potential role(s) of fungi associated with marine crabs, this study investigated the culturable diversity of fungi on carapace of the marine shallow-water hydrothermal vent crab Xenograpsus testudinatus collected at Kueishan Island, Taiwan. By sequencing the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS), 18S and 28S of the rDNA for identification, 12 species of fungi were isolated from 46 individuals of X. testudinatus: Aspergillus penicillioides, Aspergillus versicolor, Candida parapsilosis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Mycosphaerella sp., Parengyodontium album, Penicillium citrinum, Penicillium paxili, Stachylidium bicolor, Zasmidium sp. (Ascomycota), Cystobasidium calyptogenae and Earliella scabrosa (Basidiomycota). With additional data from other published reports, a total of 26 species of fungi (23 Ascomycota, three Basidiomycota) have been recorded from X. testudinatus. Aspergillus is the most speciose genus on the crab, followed by Penicillium and Candida. All but one species (Xylaria arbuscula) had been previously isolated from substrates in the marine environment, although many are typical terrestrial taxa. None of the recorded fungi on X. testudinatus are reported pathogens of crabs, but some have caused diseases of other marine animals. Whether the crab X. testudinatus is a vehicle of marine fungal diseases requires further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a new marine fungus, Lanspora dorisauae ( Phomatosporales , Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota), on trapped wood collected in coastal sites of Taiwan. This new fungus was subjected to a morphological examination and a phylogenetic study based on a combined analysis of the 18S, 28S, ITS rDNA, TEF1-α and RPB2 genes. Lanspora dorisauae is characterized by dark-coloured ascomata with a short neck, periphysate ostioles, subclavate, deliquescing asci without an apical ring, presence of wide paraphyses, striated wall ascospores with crown-like appendages on one pole of the ascospores. Phylogenetically, L. dorisauae grouped with Lanspora coronata (type species) with strong support. Lanspora coronata lacks paraphyses and appendages occur on both ends of the ascospores, while paraphyses are present and ascospore appendage is unipolar in L. dorisauae . Lanspora cylindrospora formed a sister clade with L. coronata and L. dorisauae , but it significantly differs in morphology with the latter two species in having cylindrical asci with an apical J- ring, smooth ascospore wall and no ascospore appendages, and may be better referred to a new genus. Lanspora , together with Phomatospora and Tenuimurus , belong to the Phomatosporaceae , Phomatosporales . Phomatospora berkeleyi should be sequenced to test the validity of the order Phomatosporales and the family Phomatosporaceae ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 Pang et al.)