Abstract
A new genus of a deep-sea ascomycete with one new species,
Alisea longicolla, is described based on analyses of 18S and 28S rDNA sequences and morphological characters.
A. longicolla was found together with
Oceanitis scuticella, on small twigs and sugar cane debris trawled from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off Vanuatu Islands. Molecular and morphological characters indicate that both fungi are members of
Halosphaeriaceae. Within this family,
O. scuticella is phylogenetically related to
Ascosalsum and shares similar ascospore morphology and appendage ontogeny. The genus
Ascosalsum is considered congeneric with
Oceanitis and
Ascosalsum cincinnatulum,
Ascosalsum unicaudatum and
Ascosalsum viscidulum are transferred to
Oceanitis, an earlier generic name.