Trichocladium

Abstract: Assemblage and diversity of filamentous fungi on leaf and woody litter accumulated on the floor of two mangrove forests (Nethravathi and Udyavara) in the southwest coast of India have been studied. Leaf and woody litter collected during summer and monsoon seasons incubated in the laboratory (2, 8, 16 and 32 weeks) yielded 78 taxa belonging to 32 ascomycetes and 46 mitosporic fungi. Significant difference (ANOVA) was seen in the frequency of occurrence of fungal taxa in di fferent incubation periods of leaf li tter (P = 0.179 × 10 –5 to 0.24 × 10 –5 ) and woody litter (P = 0.887 × × 10 –8 to 0.0326). The number of fungal taxa per leaf litter ranged from 1 to 5, while for woody litter it was 1 to 8. Mean nu mber of fungal taxa per wood ranged between 2.5 and 3.6, which is higher than that in the mangroves of the Indian Ocean and South East Asia. Seven ascomycetes (Aniptodera chesapeakensis, Aniptodera sp., Arenariomyces parvulus, Lulworthia grandispora, Savoryella lignicola, Kallichroma tethys and Verruculina enalia) and seven anamorphic taxa (Arthrinium sp., Aspergillus sp. 1, Cirrenalia pygmea, Cirrenalia tropicalis, Penicillium sp., Periconia prolifica and Trichocladium alopallonellum) belonging to core -group fungi (frequency of occu rrence, � 10%) were identified. Woody litter collected during summer season showed highest fungal diversity than during monsoon. Rarefaction estimates of expected number of fungal taxa out of 150 isolates were higher in woody litter than leaf litter. Sporulation of terrestrial fungi, marine fungi and arenicolous fungi (sand-inhabiting) was successional on leaf and woody litter. Terre strial fungi sporulated within eight weeks and declined thereafter, sporulating marine fungi were highest during 16 weeks, while arenicolous fungi attained a peak after 32 weeks of incubation. Substrate preference, succession, competition and techniques of study of mangrove filamentous fungi have been discussed.