Ophioceras Sacc., Syll. fung. (Abellini) 2: 358 (1883)
MycoBank number: MB 3595; Index Fungorum number: IF 3595; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01255; 23 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 11 species with sequence data.
Type species – Ophioceras dolichostomum (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Sacc.
Notes – Saccardo (1883c) introduced Ophioceras based on O. dolichostomum. The genus is characterized by black ascomata with long necks, cylindrical asci with small, refractive, apical rings and filiform ascospores (Teng 1934, Conway & Barr 1977, Shearer et al.1999, Tsui et al. 2001c, Thongkantha et al. 2009, Klaubauf et al. 2014). Ophioceras species are commonly encountered on decaying woody substrates in freshwater habitats all over the world (Hyde 1992c, Hyde & Goh 1998, Shearer et al. 1999, Tsui et al. 2001c, Thongkantha et al. 2009, Hu et al. 2012). In this entry, Ophioceras commune is illustrated (Fig. 181).
Figure 181 – Ophioceras commune (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). a, b Neck. c, d Longitudinal section through ascomata. e Longitudinal section of peridium. f Paraphyses. g-j Asci. k-o Ascospores. Scale bars: c, d = 200 μm, f-j = 50 μm, e, k-o = 30 μm.