Genus

Rhabdospora

Species

avicenniae

Author

Kohlm. & E. Kohlm., Mycologia 63: 851 (1971)

Class

Dothideomycetes, Dothideomycetidae

Order

Capnodiales

Family

Mycosphaerellaceae

Synonymy:

Description

Asexual morph: Pycnidia 70-110 μm high, 70-115 μm diam., subglobose, immersed or half immersed, ostiolate, papillate or epapillate, coriaceous, dark brown or black, solitary or gregarious. Papillae short or absent, ostiole 6-15 μm diam. Peridium 14-20 μm thick above, 8-12 μm at the base, dark brown, composed of polygonal cells forming a textura angularis. Conidiophores 5-12 μm × 1.2-2.5 μm, cylindrical or attenuate, simple, forming conidia singly at the apex, lining the wall of the pycnidial cavity. Conidia 9-12.5 × 1.5-2 μm, botuliform or filiform, one-celled, straight or slightly curved hyaline. Sexual morph: Undetermined. (Description based on Pang et al. (2011)).

Key references:

Kohlmeyer J, Kohlmeyer E (1971) Marine fungi from tropical America and Africa. Mycologia. 63(4):831-861.

Pang KL, Jheng JS, Jones EBG. (2011) Marine mangrove fungi of Taiwan. National Taiwan Ocean University Press, Keelung. pp. 131.

Image: Rhabdospora avicenniae. (a) Section of immersed pycnidium. (b) Orange spore masses discharged from pycnidia on wood. (c) Pycnidial wall made of elongated cells. (d) Conidiophores. (e) Cylindrical conidia. Scale bar: a=50 μm; b=300 μm; c, d=30 μm; e=10 μm. Photo reproduced with the permission of the National Taiwan Ocean University.

Type & Location:

Other Specimens:

Substratum:

saprobic on dead mangrove wood.

Habitat:

Distribution:

Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Columbia, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, USA.

Pertinent Literature:

Comments:

NOTES: Rhabdospora is a specious genus with circa 500 species listed in MycoBank, terrestrial taxa with only one known marine species (Kohlmeyer & Kohlmeyer 1971). This species is very common in southern Taiwan (Pang et al. 2011) and known only from tropical locations, usually on mangrove substrata. The pycnidia of this species are deeply embedded in wood and the conidia always accumulate on the wood surface as orange masses. A similar species with much larger conidia has also been observed but molecular data are needed to prove if the two are distinct species (Pang unpublished data).

Images

Fig 1