Angustospora nilensis Abdel-Aziz, sp. nov.
Index Fungorum number: IF 551715, Facesoffungi number: FoF 01633, Fig. 1
Etymology: In reference to the habitat where the fungus was first collected.
Holotype: MFLU 15-1511

Saprobic on decayed submerged wood in freshwater habitats. Sexual morph Ascomata 225 – 420 μm high, 325 – 390 μm diam., globose to subglobose, immersed to erumpent, solitary, ostiolate, papillate, periphysate, coriaceous to sub – carbonaceous, dark – brown to black. Papilla 100 – 180 μm long, 110 – 160 μm wide, protruding above the wood surface. Ostiolar canal 150 – 300 μm long, 80 –160 μm wide, cylindrical to triangular, filled with periphyses that are 30 to 50μm long and 2 – 3 μm wide. Peridium 57 – 85 μm thick, comprising two strata; outer stratum 39 – 54 μm thick, dark-brown to black, forming a textura angularis; inner stratum 18 – 31 μm thick comprising hyaline, thick-walled, flattened cells, arranged in a textura angularis. Hamathecium comprising numerous, 1 – 2.5 μm wide, distantly septate, branched, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses, embedded in a gelatinous matrix, anastmosing above the asci. Asci 150 – 240 × 48 – 83 μm (x̄ = 193.9 × 59.9 μm, n = 10), 8 – spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, clavate, semi – persistent, short pedicellate, apically rounded, with a wide, shallow ocular chamber and faint ring. Ascospores 45 – 68 × 26 – 35 μm (x̄ = 58.6 × 30 μm, n = 50), overlapping biseriate, dark-brown to black, (3) – 5 – (7) – septate, polar cells are lighter when young and apical cells with two-walls, surrounded by thin gelatinous, striate layer. Asexual morph Undetermined.

Culture characteristics: Colonies on PDA reaching a 20 – 30 mm diam. after 15 days at 25 °C, with gray to dark – brown aerial and immersed mycelium, dark – brown to black in reverse, producing fertile ascomata after 40 to 60 days of incubation, ascomata, asci and ascospores produced in culture with dimensions similar to those recorded on natural wood.

Material examined: EGYPT, Sohag City, on decayed wood submerged in the River Nile, 8 March 2005, F.A. Abdel-Aziz (MFLU 15-1511, holotype); ex-type living culture in MF804.

Fig. 1 Angustospora nilensis (holotype) a Vertical section of ascoma b Magnified part of the vertical section of the ascoma showing the papilla and ostiolar canal c, d Immature asci e, g Mature asci h Ocular chamber in ascus and faint ring i, k Variously shaped ascospores at different stages of maturity with striate gel coating (evident in j). Scale bars: a = 100 μm, b = 50 μm, c = 40 μm, d – g = 30 μm, h – k = 12 μm.