Paradictyoarthriniaceae Doilom, Jian K. Liu & K.D. Hyde, Fungal Divers., 72: 133 (2015).

MycoBank number: MB 550921; Index Fungorum number: IF 550921; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00499, 5 species.

Saprobic on dead wood, stem, spathe and spines. Sexual morph: Ascomata small black dots on the host surface, scattered, gregarious, semi-immersed to erumpent through host tissue, uniloculate, globose to subglobose, with papillate ostioles. Peridium thick-walled, of unequal thickness, hyaline inner layers to brown outer layer, pseudoparenchymatous cells, arranged in a textura angularis to textura globulosa. Hamathecium comprising filamentous, cellular pseudoparaphyses, with distinct septa. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, broadly cylindrical to cylindric-clavate, subsessile to short pedicellate, apically rounded with well-developed ocular chamber. Ascospores overlapping 1–2-seriate, fusiform, hyaline to brown, asymmetric, septate, constricted at the septa, thick-walled, with sheath. Asexual morph: Colonies on natural substrate, superficial, scattered, gregarious, black, powdery fruiting bodies. Conidiophores macronematous, erect to slightly curved, constricted at septa. Conidiogenous cells blastic, integrated, terminal, determinate. Conidia subglobose to ellipsoidal, very variable in size and shape, solitary or developing in branched chains, circular to irregular with a protruding basal cel, rounded to truncate at the base, brown to black, muriform.

TypeParadictyoarthrinium Matsush., Matsush.

Notes – Liu et al. (2015) introduced Paradictyoarthriniaceae in Pleosporales Dothideomycetes based on phylogenetic analysis and unique morphology. Members have superficial, gregarious, black, powdery fruiting bodies and macronematous conidiophores with muriform, subglobose to ellipsoidal dark brown conidia. However, it is hard to differentiate them by morphology as their conidia are variable in size and shape. They can be distinguished by DNA sequence data. Wanasinghe et al. (2018c) introduced Xenomassariosphaeria, as the second genus in the family.