South American species of Syncephalis (Zoopagales, Zoopagomycota): Syncephalis recifensis, sp. nov., and a second worldwide record

Mateus Oliveira da Cruz, Gerald L. Benny, Leslie Waren Silva de Freitas, Roger Fagner Ribeiro Melo, Hsiao-Man Ho & André Luiz Cabral Monteiro de Azevedo Santiago

Sydowia 78: 95-104

Published online on May 26th, 2025

Syncephalis contains the largest number of species of any genus in the Zoopagales. These fungi can parasitize Mucorales, Mortierellales and rarely Ascomycota fungi. However, taxonomic and ecological knowledge of these mycoparasites is still limited. During a survey of coprophilous zygosporic fungi in Brazil, a new species of Syncephalis was discovered. It forms merosporangiophores straight to slightly bent, short, unbranched, solitary or in pairs, with obovoid, rarely applanate vesicles. Merosporangia are unbranched and contain up to six ellipsoidal merospores. We also discovered S. floridana for the first time in South America, being the second record worldwide. A table with morphological characteristics of both additions, as well as all Syncephalis species from South America is provided. This study contributes to the taxonomic and ecological knowledge of Syncephalis.

Keywords: coprophilous fungi, fungal ecology, taxonomy, Zoopagales

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