Search

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]

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]