Lophiostomataceae Sacc. Syll. fung. (Abellini) 2: 672 (1883).
MycoBank number: MB 80966; Index Fungorum number: IF 80966; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00796, 222 species.
Saprobic on twigs, stems or bark of various woody plants and herbaceous plants in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Colonies superficial or semi-immersed, dark-brown to black and carbonaceous. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered to gregarious, superficial or semi-immersed to densely erumpent, globose to subglobose, dark-brown to black and carbonaceous. Ostiole slit-like, with a small to large, flat, crestlike apex, which is variable in shape and composed of pseudoparenchymatous cells. Peridium thick at the sides, broad at the apex and thinner at the base, one-layered, composed of small, lightly pigmented, thin-walled cells of textura prismatica. Hamathecium comprising septate, long, hyaline, anastomosing and branched, cellular pseudoparaphyses, embedded in gel matrix between and above the asci. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical to clavate, with furcate pedicel, rounded at the apex with minute ocular chamber. Ascospores 1-seriate or partially 2-seriate, narrowly fusiform with acute ends, hyaline to pale brown, 3–5-septate, slightly constricted at each septum, or muriform, with a distinct oil drop in each cell, smooth-walled, with terminal appendages. Asexual morph: Mycelium septate, smooth to roughened, or verrucose, yellowish-brown, to reddish brown. Pycnidia scattered or semi-immersed, uni-loculate or rarely bi-loculate, subglobose, reddish brown, comprising dark reddish-brown cells. Ostiole circular, surrounded by a thick-walled, well-developed neck, surrounded by flexuous hyphae and an ostiolar canal filled with a tissue of hyaline cells. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells arising within the acervuli, cylindrical, septate and branched at the base, hyaline. Conidiogenous cells cylindrical, phialidic, formed at the end and on the sides, hyaline, smooth. Conidia subglobose or cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate.
Type – Lophiostoma Ces. & De Not.
Notes – Lophiostomataceae was introduced by Nitschke (1869) with Lophiostoma, as the type genus. This family has been referred to different orders by various authors (Luttrell 1973, von Arx & Müller 1975, Barr 1987a, 1992b, Holm & Holm 1988, Hawksworth et al. 1995, Kirk et al. 2008, Zhang et al. 2012b). Lophiostomataceae are mostly characterized by slot-like ostiole on the top of a flattened neck which mainly occur on twigs, stems or bark (Holm & Holm 1988, Thambugala et al. 2015b). Thambugala et al. (2015b) accepted 16 genera, while Wijayawardene et al. (2018) accepted 18 genera in Lophiostomataceae. Hashimoto et al. (2018a) introduced seven new genera in Lophiostomataceae. Crous et al. (2019a) and Mapook et al. (2020), also introduced two genera in Lophiostomataceae. We accept 28 genera in this family.
Genera