thalassiae

Massarina Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 2: 153 (1883)

Type species:

Massarina eburnea (Tul. & C. Tul.) Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 2: 153 (1883)

Marine species:

Massarina thalassiae Kohlmeyer & Volkmann-Kohlmeyer, Canad. J. Bot. 65: 575. 1987..

Index Fungorum Number: 130735                         Faceoffungi number: N/A

Saprobic, Sexual morph: Ascomata 200-450 um diam., pyriform to sphaeroid, immersed to erumpent, with a large, papillate ostiole. Hamathecium consisting of branched, septate pseudoparaphyses, anastomosing above the asci, filaments c. 1.5-2 um wide. Ascospores broadly fusiform, 1-3-septate, (28-)33-45(-47) x (9.5-) ll-14(-15) um, with a strong median constriction, only slightly constricted at the additional septa, cells equal when 1-septate, end cells smaller than middle cells when 3-septate, ends rounded, with a c. 2-4 um thick gelatinous sheath, which is constricted at the primary septum. Senescent ascospores becoming dark brown and verruculose. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

The genus Massarina is a polyphyletic genus (Zhang et al. 2009) and many of the marine Massarina species that have been sequenced have been referred to other genera / families (Suetrong et al. 2009). Other species such as M. beaurivagea, M. cystophorae, M. lacertensis, M. mauritiana, M. phragmiticola and M. ricifera require to be recollected and sequenced to resolve their taxonomic position (Jones et al. 2009, 2015). Massarina phragmiticola has been variously referred to Lentithecium (Gnavi et al. 2014) or reduced to synonym with Lentithecium arundinaceum (Zhang et al. 2009). Massarina lacertensis has been collected in Australia on submerged wood of Rhizophora stylosa by Kohlmeyer & Volkmann-Kohlmeyer (1991). In the opinion of Aptroot (1998) in a monograph of the genus Massarina, this species does not belong to any described genus known to him. Massarina carolinensis has also been described from the culms of Juncus roemerianus but Kohlmeyer et al. (1995) do not regard this as strictly a marine species and has not be included by Jones et al. (2015).

Key references:

Aptroot A (1998). A world revision of Massarina (Ascomycota). Nova Hedwigia 66: 89–162.

Gnavi G, Ercole E, Panno L, Alfredo Vizzini A, Varese GC (2014). Dothideomycetes and Leotiomycetes sterile mycelia isolated from the Italian seagrass Posidonia oceanica based on rDNA data. SpringerPlus 2014, 3:508.

Kohlmeyer J, Volkmann–Kohlmeyer B (1991). Marine fungi of Queensland, Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 42(1):91–99.

Kohlmeyer J, Volkmann–Kohlmeyer B, Eriksson O (1995). Mycol. Res. 100: 400.

Jones EBG, Sakayaroj J, Sueterong S, Somrithipol A, Pang KL (2009) Classification of marine Ascomycota, anamorphic taxa and Basidiomycota. Fungal Divers 35: 1–187.

Jones EBG, Suetrong S, Sakayaroj J, Bahkali AH, Abdel–Wahab MA, Boekhout T, Pang KL (2015) Classification of marine Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota and Chytridiomycota. Fungal Diversity 73: 1–72.

Zhang Y, Wang, HK, Fournier J, Crous PW, Jeewon R, Pointing SB, Hyde KD (2009). Towards a phylogenetic clarification of Lophiostoma / Massarina and morphologically similar genera in the Pleosporales. Fungal Diversity 38: 225–251.

Read SJ, Moss ST, Jones EBG (1994). Ultrastructure of asci and ascospore sheath of Massarina thalassiae (Loculoascomycetes, Ascomycotina). Bot Mar 37: 547–554.

Suetrong S, Schoch CL, Spatafora JW, Kohlmeyer J, Volkmann–Kohlmeyer B, Sakayaroj J, Phongpaichit S, Tanaka K, Hirayama K, Jones EBG (2009) Molecular systematics of the marine Dothideomycetes. Stud Mycol 64:155–173.