Aigialaceae Suetrong, Sakay., E.B.G. Jones, Kohlm., Volkm.-Kohlm. & C.L. Schoch, in Suetrong et al., Stud. Mycol. 64: 166 (2009).
MycoBank number: MB 515957; Index Fungorum number: IF 515957; Facesoffungi number: FoF 08136, 25 species.
Saprobic on submerged bark or wood of mangrove trees, marine and terrestrial habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata immersed, semi-immersed, erumpent to superficial, black, scattered or rarely clustered, globose or conical, coriaceous to carbonaceous, ostiolate, with rounded or slit-like ostiole, apapillate. Peridium composed of dark brown, thick-walled cells of textura epidermoidea to angularis, occasionally globulosa. Hamathecium comprising hyaline, anastomosing, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses, embedded in a gelatinous matrix. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, obclavate to cylindrical, pedicellate, with or without refractive apical ring, J- ocular chamber. Ascospores 2-seriate, obclavate, ellipsoidal to fusiform, hyaline to brown or dark brown, septate, phragmosporous to muriform, slightly constricted at the septa, smooth-walled, surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath or caps at the ends. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous, reported as pleurophomopsis-like for Fissuroma aggregata (Tanaka & Harada 2005a); Hyphomycetuos (see Vohník et al. 2019).
Type – Aigialus Kohlm. & S. Schatz.
Notes – Aigialus was established in Pleosporales by Suetrong et al. (2009) based on phylogenetic analyses and morphology. The family accommodates taxa having carbonaceous ascomata without papilla, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses, cylindrical asci and ascospores with a sheath or gelatinous appendages around the apical cells (Suetrong et al. 2009, Hyde et al. 2013). Three genera, Aigialus, Ascocratera and Rimora, were initially included from marine and mangrove habitats (Suetrong et al. 2009). Fissuroma and Neoastrosphaeriella were later introduced by Liu et al. (2011) from terrestrial habitats. Aigialus, Ascocratera and Rimora share similar features such as carbonaceous, apapillate ascomata, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses, cylindrical asci with an apical apparatus and ascospores with a sheath but differ by their ascospores. The ascospores in Aigialus are brown and muriform, while 1–3-septate in Ascocratera and Rimora (Suetrong et al. 2009). Fissuroma and Neoastrosphaeriella share features such as hemisphaerical, immersed to semi- immersed ascomata with slit-like ostioles, 1-septate ascospores but Fissuroma has cylindro-clavate asci, elongate-fusiform, hyaline ascospores, while Neoastrosphaeriella has obclavate asci, fusiform, brown to dark brown ascospores that are verrucose at maturity (Liu et al. 2011). The family includes six genera viz. Aigialus, Ascocratera, Fissuroma, Neoastrosphaeriella, Posidoniomyces and Rimora (Hyde et al. 2013, Wanasinghe et al. 2018a, Wijayawardene et al. 2018, Vohník et al. 2019).