Seven New Pleosporalean Species from Marine Sediment and Seawater

The Pleosporales order is the largest in the Ascomycota phylum and is distributed worldwide, with a wide range of hosts and habitats. Members of this order are closely associated with the aquatic environment, including marine habitats. Many species are isolated from substrates such as mangroves, marine driftwood and seagrass. This study describes seven new species spanning three genera in two families: Montagnula minispora, Paraconiothyrium ellipsosporum, P. microconidium, P. qingdaoense, Westerdykella fulva, W.microcarpa, and W. sedimenticola. These new species can be differentiated morphologically from their close relatives by the presence of an anamorph, the type of sporangium and the color, shape and size of the conidia. The LSU-ITS-tef1-rpb2 phylogeny revealed seven independent and highly supported clades, providing important evidence for the introduction of these new species. Ecologically, they were retrieved from the marine environment, spanning the intertidal, coastal and deep-sea zones, thereby expanding our knowledge of the distribution and species diversity of pleosporalean fungi.