Australian Journal of
Taxonomy
Open-access, online, rapid taxonomy
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Holotype: AD289898
Fig. 2: Neospadicoides australiensis (AD289898, holotype). a Conidiophore on wood. b Apex of conidiophore, conidiogenous cells and conidia. c, d Conidiophores. e-h Conidia. Scale bars: a = 100 µm, b, e-h = 5 µm, c-d = 20 µm.
Fig. 3: Culture of Neospadicoides australiensis (AD289898, holotype) on PDA after 6 months. a mycelium on PDA, b reverse side of culture, c hyphae. Scale bars: a-b = 1cm, c = 5 µm.
Saprobic on decaying wood in an ephemeral freshwater stream. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiophores 120–276 µm long, 7.5–8.4 µm wide at the base, 3.6–4.8 µm at the apex (x = 187.2 × 7.4 x 3.9 µm, n=14), macronematous, mononematous, erect, cylindrical, unbranched, smooth, dark brown, septate, wider at the base, tapering towards the apex, solitary. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, discrete, terminal and intercalary, intercalary conidiogenous cells in the upper section of the conidiophore only, brown, truncate at the apex, usually 1-celled, sometimes 2-celled, when 2-celled, constricted at the septa 7–12.5 × 3.5–5 µm (x =10.2 × 4.1 µm, n=16). Conidia 18–33 µm long, 10–16 µm wide (x = 25.3 × 12.4 µm, n=27), obovoid, 3-septate, thick-walled, multi-guttulate, subhyaline to light brown, smooth-walled, truncate at the base, narrow channel between the cells (Fig. 2).
Culture characteristics: On PDA after 6 months 40 mm. Margin uneven, feathered. Mycelium dark brown. Aerial hyphae lighter brown. Reverse dark brown. No staining of agar. Abundant submerged hyphae. Hyphae hyaline to brown, septate, sparsely branched, walls straight, smooth, 2–3 µm wide (fig. 3).
Material examined: AUSTRALIA, Scott Creek Conservation Park (S35° 5' 46", E138° 40' 59"), on decaying wood submerged in a stream, 26 August 2020, (AD289898, holotype).
Fig. 2: Neospadicoides australiensis (AD289898, holotype). a Conidiophore on wood. b Apex of conidiophore, conidiogenous cells and conidia. c, d Conidiophores. e-h Conidia. Scale bars: a = 100 µm, b, e-h = 5 µm, c-d = 20 µm.
Fig. 3: Culture of Neospadicoides australiensis (AD289898, holotype) on PDA after 6 months. a mycelium on PDA, b reverse side of culture, c hyphae. Scale bars: a-b = 1cm, c = 5 µm.
Etymology: The epithet refers to the country where the species was found, Australia.
Notes: Neospadicoides australiensis is morphologically most similar to N. thailandica D.F. Bao, H.Y. Su, K.D. Hyde & Z.L. Luo (Bao et al. 2021) with thick-walled, clavate, dark brown conidia. However, the conidiogenous cells of N. australiensis are both terminal and intercalary, whereas those of N. thailandica are terminal only. Also, the conidia of N. australiensis lack a sheath and are narrower. Neospadicoides australianesis should also be compared to N. lignicola Z.L. Luo, K.D. Hyde & H.Y. Su which also has holoblastic, terminal and intercalary conidiogenous cells, but the conidia of N. lignicola are thin-walled and smaller (Luo et al. 2019).
Based on its morphology and phylogenetic placement, we therefore introduce Neospadicoides australiensis as a new species.