Ophioceras commune Shearer, J.L. Crane & W. Chen, Mycologia 91: 146 (1999) (Zonglong)

Index Fungorum number: IF 450197 

Saprobic on wood submerged in freshwater. Asexual morph: undertermined. Sexual morph: Ascomata 180–330 × 270–390 μm, immersed to superficial, scattered to clustered, black, globose to elongated globose, with a long neck. Peridium about 35 μm thick, two-three layers, inner layer of hyaline, small pseudoparenchyma cells, outer layer brown to dark brown. Paraphyses septate, broad at base, tapering to a point, longer than asci. Asci 90–104 × 5.5–11.5 μm (x̅ = 97 × 8.5 μm, n = 20), 8-spored, basal and peripheral, cylindrical, sigmoidal. Ascospores 83–91 × 2.5–3.5 μm (x̅ = 87 × 3 μm, n = 20), fasciculate, hyaline, filiform, arcuate, septate, uniform width throughout or one end more broadly rounded than the other, ascospores frequently released by deliquescence of basal half of ascus.

Material examined – China, Yunnan Province, saprobic on decaying wood submerged in Erhai Lake, March 2015, X.Y. Liu, S-578, HKAS 92587; March 2015, H.Y. Su, S-536, HKAS 92569; June 2015, S.M. Tang, S-338, HKAS 92640.

GenBank numbers –ITS: MH795813 (HKAS 92640), MH795814 (HKAS 92587), MH795815 (HKAS 92569), MH795816 (S-132); LSU: MH795818 (HKAS 92640), MH795819 (HKAS 92587), MH795820 (HKAS 92569), MH795821 (S-132); TEF1-α: MH801192 (HKAS 92640), MH801193 (HKAS 92587), MH801194 (HKAS 92569).

Known distribution (based on molecular data) – Canada (Chen et al. 1999), China (Tsui et al. 2000, Cai et al. 2002, Luo et al. 2004, Tsui & Hyde 2004), Egypt (Abdel-Aziz 2016), Japan (Tsui et al. 2003), Panama (Chen et al. 1999, Shearer et al. 1999), USA (Shearer et al. 1999)

Known hosts (based on molecular data) – on submerged wood in freshwater habitats, herbaceous debris (Chen et al. 1999, Shearer et al. 1999)

Notes – Ophioceras commune was introduced by Shearer et al. (1999) based on the collections of submerged wood in freshwater habitats in the USA. Several studies have reported Ophioceras commune from freshwater habitats in China (Tsui et al. 2000, Cai et al. 2002, Luo et al. 2004, Tsui & Hyde 2004). However, no descriptions and illustrations have been provided in those studies. In this study, four specimens were collected from submerged wood in Erhai Lake, Yunnan Province, China. The morphology of our fungus fits well with the original descriptions of Ophioceras commune (Shearer et al. 1999). Phylogenetic analysis based on combined ITS, LSU and tef1 sequence data also showed that our fungus clustered with Ophioceras commune with strong support. Therefore, we identified our species as Ophioceras commune and this is the first time to provide the descriptions and illustrations for this species from China.

Fig – Ophioceras commune (HKAS 92569, new geographical record). a, b Neck. c, d Longitudinal sections through ascomata. e Longitudinal section of peridium. f Paraphyses. g-k Asci. l-p Ascospores. Scale bars: c = 170 μm, d = 120 μm, e, f = 30 μm, g = 55 μm, h–j, m–p = 20 μm, k, l = 15 μm.