Sporormiella octomegaspora Doveri & Sarrocco (2013: 130)

Kruys, Åsa, 2015, New species of Preussia with 8 - celled ascospores (Sporormiaceae, Pleosporales, Ascomycota), Phytotaxa 234 (2), pp. 143-150 : 146

Sporormiella octomegaspora Doveri & Sarrocco (2013: 130) .

Habitat and distribution: —The species is originally described from red deer dung ( Cervus elaphus ) in Spain ( Doveri & Sarrocco 2013), and this is the first record from hare dung and Tasmania, Australia.

Specimens examined: — AUSTRALIA. Tasmania: 10 km ESE of Huonville, Snug Plains, open shrubby area, on hare dung ( Lepus europaeus ) in moist chamber, Uppsala, 8 March 1981, Tibell 11285-n, F-529944 (UPS!).

Taxonomic remarks: — S. octomegaspora is characterized by large, brown to blackish, rough and densely hairy pseudothecia. Asci are large, eight-spored and have a short stipe, while the ascospores are very long, eight-celled, subfusiform, with sigmoidal germ slits.

Our measurements of the new record F-529944 are for the asci 320–387.5 × 52.5–63 μm, with stipes 12.5–30 μm, and for the ascospores 162.5–187.5 (–192.5) × 17.5–20 μm. This record complies with the original description, apart from that these ascospores are a little longer, and their end cells are often slightly longer than the 7 th cell, instead of the opposite. Further, according to a sketch by Nils Lundqvist who studied the material when fresh, the germ slit of the end cell is straight and parallel, while the others are sigmoid like the original description. However, considering the small sample size, these discrepancies should not be given too much importance.