Two new species of Scolecobasidium (Venturiales, Sympoventuriaceae) associated with true mangrove plants and S.terrestre comb. nov.

Scolecobasidium is cosmopolitan and includes species that inhabit a wide range of ecosystems including soil, water, air, plant and cold-blooded vertebrates. During a fungal survey from mangrove, strains of Scolecobasidium occurring on leaf spots of true mangrove plants, Aegicerascorniculatum and Acanthusebracteatus , were isolated from Futian Mangrove in Shenzhen and the Qi'ao-Dangan Island Mangrove in Zhuhai, China. Unlike most species in Scolecobasidium that produce dark conidia, our strains are characterized by hyaline to pale brown conidia and inconspicuous thread-like sterigmata. Further detailed morphological comparison and multi-locus (LSU, ITS, tub2 , tef1 -α) phylogenetic analyses revealed these collections as two new taxa, namely S.acanthi sp. nov. and S.aegiceratis sp. nov. We further emend the generic description of Scolecobasidium , propose one new combination, S.terrestre comb. nov., and clarify the taxonomic status of S.constrictum .