Genus

Trichomaris

Species

invadens

Author

Hibbits, G.C. Hughes & Sparks, Can. J. Bot. 59: 2123. 1981.

Class

Sordariomycetes, Subclass Hypocreomycetidae

Order

Microascales

Family

Halosphaeriaceae

Synonymy:

Description

Trichomaris Hibbits, G.C. Hughes & Sparks, Canadian Journal of Botany 59 (11): 2123 (1981)

Type and marine species:

Trichomaris invadens Hibbits, G.C. Hughes & Sparks, Can. J. Bot. 59: 2123. 1981.

Index Fungorum Number: 111983 Faceoffungi Number: N/A

Parasitic on crab Chionoecetes bairdi, Sexual morph: Ascomata: 250-400 µm diam., subglobose, dark-coloured, with a subiculum, coriaceous, gregarious, papilla lacking or occasional. Peridium: thick-walled. Necks: periphysate. Asci: 85-155 x 12-17 µm, thin-walled, unitunicate, 8-spored, elongate clavate, deliquescing, long pedicellate. Catenophyses: absent. Ascospores: 15-22 x 5 µm, hyaline, oblong to ellipsoidal, 1-3-septate predominately 1-septate, slighted constricted at the septum, appendaged. Appendages: bipolar, unfurling in water, 50-360 µm long. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Description based on Hibbits et al. (1981)

Key references:

Hibbits J, Hughes GC, Sparks AK (1981). Trichomaris invadens gen. et sp. nov., an ascomycete parasite of the tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi Rathbun Crustacea; Brachyura). Canadian Journal of Botany. 59(11): 2121–2128.

Hoskin GP (1983). Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 46(2): 499–500.

Jones EBG (1994). Fungal adhesion. Presidential address (1992). Mycol Res 98: 961– 981.

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.

Pang KL, Vrijmoed LLP, Kong RYC, Jones EBG (2003). Lignincola and Nais, polyphyletic genera of the Halosphaeriales (Ascomycota). Mycol Progr 2: 29–36.

Porter D (1982). The appendaged ascospores of Trichomaris invadens (Halosphaeriaceae), a marine ascomycetous parasite of the tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi. Mycologia 74(3) 363–375.

Sakayaroj J, Pang KL, Jones EBG (2011). Multi-gene phylogeny of the Halosphaeriaceae: its ordinal status, relationships between genera and morphological character evolution. Fungal Divers. 46: 87–109.

Type & Location:

Other Specimens:

Substratum:

Parasitic on the tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi.

Habitat:

Distribution:

Alaska.

Pertinent Literature:

Description based on Hibbits et al. (1981)

Comments:

NOTES: Another monotypic genus in the Halosphaeriaceae (Sakayaroj et al. 2011, Jones et al. 2015) and unusual in that it is a parasitic species of the legs of the tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi (Hoskin 1983). Histological examination of tissues from the legs of tanner crabs, showed that hyphae penetrated the cuticle of the crab, extensively invaded the epidermis, and extended into the muscle tissue (Hoskin 1983). The ascospores have polar unfurling appendages similar to those of the genera Cucullosporella, Halosarpheia (Pang et al. 200x). Taxonomically Trichomaris morphologically resembles Halosarpheia but there are no cultures or sequences to enable placement of this fungus with certainty in the Halosphaeriaceae. Porter (1982) recollected this species near Cordova, Alaska, and undertook a detailed ultrastructural study of the ascospores and their polar appendages. He showed that the appendages are composed of uniform electron-dense material similar in appearance to the epispore wall layer and do not contain any filamentous substructure. Porter (1982) opines that the probable function of the appendages is for entanglement to substrates and to secure attachment as described by Jones (1994).

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