Diversity of marine fungi from Egyptian Red Sea mangroves

The current study extends our knowledge of the biogeography of subtropical mangrove fungi from the Red Sea, which has not been well explored. Diversity of marine fungi in Red Sea mangroves in Egypt was assessed, and fungi dominating the communities were recorded and compared with those from other mangroves in subtropical and tropical regions. Intertidal decayed mangrove wood samples were collected from six mangrove stands located on the Red Sea coast in Egypt. Thirty-nine fungal species were identified on decayed wood of Avicennia marina. Of these, 19 are new records for Egypt and the Red Sea. The most frequent fungus was Swampomyces armeniacus. Other common fungi include: Hypoxylon sp., Lineolata rhizophorae, Kallichroma tethys, Swampomyces aegyptiacus and Lulworthia grandispora. Common fungi in the northern sites were different from those recorded from southern sites. Six fungi were recorded on Rhizophora mucronata prop roots for the first time in Red Sea mangroves. The diversity of fungi recorded in Red Sea mangroves is comparable to that recorded from subtropical mangroves, and lower than that recorded from tropical mangroves.