Melanommataceae G. Winter [as ‘Melanommeae’], Rabenh. Krypt.-Fl., Edn 2 (Leipzig) 1.2: 220 (1885).

MycoBank number: MB 80990; Index Fungorum number: IF 80990; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01023, 337 species.

Saprobic or parasitic on woody plants in terrestrial, marine or freshwater habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered or gregarious, immersed or semi-immersed to erumpent, superficial, globose to subglobose, carbonaceous or coriaceous, papillate or epapillate, black, with or without a subiculum. Peridium multi-layered, outer layer composed of irregular, thick-walled, brown to black pseudoparenchymatous cells, and inner layer composed of thin-walled, hyaline pseudoparenchymatous cells. Hamathecium comprising long, branched or simple, septate, cellular or trabeculate pseudoparaphyses encircling and anastomosing between the asci and embedded in a gelatinous matrix or hamathecium lacking. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, clavate to nearly cylindrical, pedicellate, apically rounded with an ocular chamber. Ascospores 1-seriate or 2-seriate, fusoid to ellipsoidal, or muriform, hyaline or brown, 1- to multi-septate, with or without a mucilaginous sheath, smooth-walled or verrucose. Asexual morph: Mostly coelomycetous and rarely hyphomycetous with various conidium ontogenic structures. Conidiomata pycnidial, superficial, globose to subglobose, black, ostiolate. Peridium comprising irregular, thickwalled, hyaline to brown cells. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, monoblastic or enteroblastic phialidic, ampliform to cylindrical, geniculate, hyaline to pale brown. Conidia oblong, cylindrical, ellipsoidal, pyriform to obovoid, hyaline, aseptate to multi-septate, smooth-walled.

Type – Melanomma Nitschke ex Fuckel.

Notes – Winter (1885) introduced Melanommataceae and Melanomma was regarded as the type genus based on its diagnostic character of trabeculate pseudoparaphyses. Taxonomic studies of members of Melanommataceae have been carried out recently (Mugambi & Huhndorf 2009a, Hyde et al. 2013, Liu et al. 2015, Tian et al. 2015, Li et al. 2016c, Almeida et al. 2017, Gross et al. 2017, Hashimoto et al. 2017a, Jaklitsch & Voglmayr 2017, Wanasinghe et al. 2018c). Tian et al. (2015) accepted 20 genera with detailed morphological characters of each type species and provided multiple gene (LSU, SSU, rpb-2 and tef1) phylogenetic analyses. However, there are many genera established without sequence data, such as Anomalemma/Exosporiella, Asymmetricospora, Bicrouania, Calyptronectria, Mamillisphaeria, Navicella and Nigrolentilocus. Jaklitsch & Voglmayr (2016) excluded Ohleria from Melanommataceae and established a new family Ohleriaceae based on morphological differences and phylogeny distinction. Jaklitsch & Voglmayr (2017) revisited three former taxa of Cucurbitaria and placed Petrakia in Melanommataceae and introduced two new genera, Alpinaria and Praetumpfia. Hashimoto et al. (2017a) introduced a new family Pseudodidymellaceae to accommodate four similar genera, Mycodidymella, Petrakia, Pseudodidymella, and Xenostigmina and restricted Melanommaceae sensu stricto based on morphological characters of both sexual and asexual morphs and phylogenetic circumscription. Five additional genera, Marjia, Melanocucurbitaria, Melanodiplodia, Monoseptella and Uzbekistanica, were were introduced by Wanasinghe et al. (2018c) and they elucidated Pseudodidymellaceae as untenable based on a more reliable backbone bootstrap support. An evolutionary analysis is indispensable to be carried out, more sampling of DNA from missing genera should be obtained and the considerable confusion of sexual and asexual morphs should be removed. In this study, 35 genera are accepted in Melanommataceae.

Genera