Halosphaeriaceae E. Müll. & Arx, Can. J. Bot. 50: 1951 (1972)
MycoBank number: MB 80832; Index Fungorum number: IF 80832; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01294; 171 species.
Saprobic on algae, immersed or submersed on phanerogams, wood, bark, leaves, and other cellulosic plant remains, grains of sand, or on calcareous shell fragments, rarely parasitic or symbiotic, found in marine (oceans, mangroves and estuaries) and freshwater habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata subglobose, cylindrical or pyriform, hyaline or dark; sometimes subiculate, rarely stromatic; superficial or immersed. Ostioles papillate to long cylindrical; ostiolar canal with periphyses or pseudoparenchyma; rarely without ostioles. Peridium soft or subcarbonaceous, composed of flattened, thick- or thin-walled cells. Centre of immature ascomata consisting of polygonal, thin-walled, pseudoparenchymatic cells, sometimes with pits, at maturation separating to form catenophyses or compressed by the asci and dissolving. Paraphyses absent. Asci fusiform, clavate or rarely subglobose, with or without apical structures, thin-walled, 1-layered, persistent or swelling and deliquescing at or before ascospore maturity. Hymenial layer at base of venter, flat or convex. Mature ascospores filling the venter of the ascoma, released singly through the ostiole or rarely within the ascus, which swells after dispersal. Ascospores overlapping 2-3 seriate, hyaline or light brown, 1- multi-celled, mostly with characteristic ornamentations, appendages or gelatinous sheaths, or both. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Hyphae hyaline or brown, superficially or immersed, septate, branched. Conidiophores simple or micronematous, hyaline or mid to dark brown, paler towards the apex, unbranched, walls smooth, thin or thick-walled, terminal, integrated, monoblastic, determinate or arise as erect lateral branches from the cells of the vegetative hyphae, wide at the base, tapering only slightly above or arising singly or in groups of 2- 4 from a small stroma or flexuous, initially short and simple becoming longer and many times septate (up to 10), old conidiophore apices become displaced laterally as the conidiophore elongates and persists as short conoid denticles. Conidiogenous cells erect, some are with a distinct collarette, produce conidia terminally in a sympodial fashion or monoblastic, integrated, terminal, determinate. Conidia solitary, hyaline to bright reddish brown, holoblastic arising singly from the apices of the conidiogenous cells or develop as a small swelling at the end of the collarette, thin- walled, smooth, fusoid, (2) 7-11 septate, sigmoid with a flat detachment scar or initially oval gradually the upper half widens and becomes turbinate and finally triangular-shaped, each corner of the triangle with a long, hair-like divergent process or helicoids, semi-contorted, mostly coiled 0.75-1 times, 3-4 (5) septate, constricted at the septa; cells increase in size and pigments from base to apex: apical cell conspicuously swollen, subglobose, darker than the others, basal cell cylindrical and tapering (adapted from Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b).
Type genus – Halosphaeria Linder
Notes – Halosphaeriaceae which was discussed by Müller & von Arx (1962) and Eriksson (1984) currently comprises 163 species in 64 genera (Pang 2002, Jones et al. 2009, 2015, 2017, 2019, Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015, Wijayawardene et al. 2017a, 2018a). The Halosphaeriaceae was validated by Kohlmeyer (1972) and assigned as a single family to Halosphaeriales (Hawksworth & Eriksson 1986). Halosphaeriaceae was previously polyphyletic and the genera Lulworthia and Lindra were referred to a new family Lulworthiaceae (Campbell et al. 2003, Pang et al. 2003, Koch et al. 2007). Even though Hibbett et al. (2007) and Schoch et al. (2007) referred Halosphaeriaceae to Microascales, some other researchers included it in Halosphaeriales (Zhang et al. 2006, Tang et al. 2007, Jones et al. 2009). Recent studies by Jones et al. (2015) and Maharachchikumbura et al. (2015, 2016b) established the placement of the Halosphaeriaceae as one of the families in the Microascales. Perithecial ascomata, necks (usually with periphyses), the presence of catenophyses that easily deliquesce, unitunicate, thin-walled asci that deliquesce early, with or lacking an apical ring and appendaged ascospores are the most common characters of this family (Jones 1995, Campbell et al. 2003, Pang et al. 2003, Koch et al. 2007), while some genera have been introduced based on ascospore appendage morphology and ontogeny, such as Bovicornuta, Kohlmeyeriella, Ondiniella, and Marinospora (Jones et al. 1983, 1984, Jones 1995) but subsequently confirmed by molecular data. Halosphaeriaceous species are primarily marine, found on wood (especially mangrove wood) or seagrasses and are cosmopolitan in distribution (Jones 2011, Jones & Pang 2012, Jones et al. 2013). Some species are found in freshwater habitats, which was belong to the genera Aniptodera, Lignincola, Luttrellia, Magnisphaera, Naïs, Natantispora, Oceanitis, Panorbis and Phaeonectriella and the majority are lignicolous (Pang & Jheng 2012, Cai et al. 2014). Around 75% of halosphaeriaceous species have been sequenced (Jones et al. 2017).
Genera