Halotthiaceae Ying Zhang, J. Fourn. & K.D. Hyde, Mycologia 105(3): 604 (2013).
MycoBank number: MB 563123; Index Fungorum number: IF 563123; Facesoffungi number: FoF 08247, 7 species.
Saprobic or pathogenic on terrestrial, freshwater and marine hosts. Sexual morph: Ascomata medium to large in size, immersed, semi-immersed, erumpent or superficial, sometimes present under a pseudoclypeus, mostly ostiolate. Peridium multi-layered, outer layer of small, irregular brown to dark brown, thick walled, pseudoparanchymatous cells, inner layer black to dark brown, sometimes with large lumina or pseudoparenchymatous cells arranged in textura angularis, sometimes textura prismatica. Hamathecium comprising dense or narrowly cellular, septate, simple or branched pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical, clavate, sub- clavate to fusiform, long or short pedicellate, with or withour ocular chamber. Ascospores 1–3- seriate, fusiform, clavate, ellipsoid or subellipsoid, sometimes initially hyaline becoming pale brown, dark brown to blackish brown at maturity, 1-septate, phragmosporous, distoseptate or dictyosporous, constricted or not at the septum, with or without gelatinous sheath, without appendages. Asexual morph: in Halotthia pycnidial. Conidiophores simple obclavate. Conidia (or spermatia) subglobose, ovoid or ellipsoidal, hyaline.
Type – Halotthia Kohlm
Notes – Halotthiaceae was introduced by Zhang et al. (2013c) with the type species Halotthia, and comprised the genera Mauritiana, Phaeoseptum and Pontoporeia (Hyde et al. 2013, Wijayawardene et al. 2014b). Ariyawansa et al. (2015a) introduced three new genera in to this family, Brunneoclavispora, Neolophiostoma and Sulcosporium. Hyde et al. (2018) removed Phaeoseptum from Halotthiaceae and introduced it to a new family Phaeoseptaceae. Prominent and thick septa in the ascospores can be observed in all members of Halotthiaceae, and can be used as a diagnostic characteristic for this family (Zhang et al. 2013c). All the genera included in this family except Pontoporeia are monotypic. Most of the previously introduced genera were identified in freshwater and marine habitats (Suetrong et al. 2009, Zhang et al. 2013c) but Brunneoclavispora and Sulcosporium were identified from terrestrial habitats (Ariyawansa et al. 2015a). Based on multi-gene phylogenetic analyses, the family formed a monophyletic clade close to Sporormiaceae, Roussoellaceae, Lophiostomataceae and Phaeoseptaceae in Pleosporales (Suetrong et al. 2009, Zhang et al. 2013c, Ariyawansa et al. 2015a, Hyde et al. 2018).