The International Institute of Species Exploration (Arizona State University) each year publishes a list of the ten most astonishing species described during the year. For the 2011 list, two fungi were included: Mycena luxaeterne and Psathyrella aquatica.
Mycena luxaeterna Desjardin, B.A. Perry & Stevani is a strongly bioluminescent agaric described from Brazil (Desjardin, D.E., B.A. Perry, D.J. Lodge, C.V. Stevani, and E. Nagasawa. 2010. Luminescent Mycena: new and noteworthy species. Mycologia 102(2):459- 477. LINK).
Psathyrella aquatica R.A. Coffan, J.L. Frank & D. Southw. is a species of Psathyrella apparently growing under water in a river i Oregon (Aquatic gilled mushrooms: Psathyrella fruiting in the Rogue River in southern Oregon. Mycologia 102(1): 93-107 LINK. -- alas, behind a paywall).
Candidates for the next list can be nominated here.
Do you know how many fungal species actually have been found growing under the water? I've only seen one by myself, that was in Saxnäs last year, as far as I know it was a Mitrula sp.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot, especially "pyrenomycetes". The unique here is that this is an agaric.
ReplyDeleteI've seen shiitake fruting underwater when I shocked my logs and left them in the water for too long. I know it's not their true environment to bear fruiting bodies, but the fact that they came to full size before I pulled the logs out of the water was interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteThey actually developed under water?
ReplyDelete