Conlariales K.D. Hyde & Hongsanan, ord. nov.

MycoBank number: MB 557987; Index Fungorum number: IF 557987; Facesoffungi number: FoF 09417

Type family: Conlariaceae H. Zhang, K.D. Hyde & Maharachch

Saprobic on submerged wood. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecioid, gregarious, coriaceous, superficial or partially immersed, dark brown to black, globose to subglobose, smooth. Ostiole elongate, cylindrical, straight or slightly flexuous. Peridium composed of several layers of cells of textura angularis, which are usually darker in the outer layer and pale in the inner layer. Paraphyses cylindrical, hyaline, septate, cells sometimes slightly inflated between the septa, branched, tapering or not, not embedded in a matrix. Asci 8‑spored, unitunicate, cylindrical, short pedicellate, apically rounded, with a distinct, refractive, massive, barrel‑shaped, apical ring. Ascospores biseriate, hyaline, fusiform, straight or slightly curved, aseptate to multi‑septate, guttulate, with‑ out appendages or appendages at one or both ends. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Colonies dark brown to black. Mycelium mostly immersed, consisting of branched, septate, thin‑walled, smooth, pale brown to brown hyphae. Conidiophores micronematous or semi‑macronematous, mononematous, septate or aseptate, unbranched or irregularly branched, straight or flexuous, hyaline, becoming brown when old. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, determinate, doliiform, cylindrical. Conidia brown, muriform, irregularly globose or subglobose, septate, constricted at the septa (adapted from Zhang et al. 2017).

Notes: Conlariaceae was introduced by Zhang et al. (2017) with a single genus, Conlarium F. Liu & L. Cai. The family was previously placed in Atractosporales by Zhang et al. (2017) based on phylogeny and divergence time estimates. However, recent studies have shown, Conlariaceae did not cluster with Atractosporales (Luo et al. 2019; Hyde et al. 2020a). Our phylogenetic analyses showed the same result, Conlariaceae formed a distinct clade separate from Atractosporales (Fig. 1). Moreover, the divergence time estimates showed that the stem age (138 MYA) of this family falls within the order range (Hyde et al. 2017). We, therefore introduce a new order, Conlariales to accommodate this family.

Families