Piptocephalis hoae – a new species of Zoopagales (Zoopagomycota) from the Cerrado biome, Brazil

Leslie Waren Silva de Freitas, Henrique Arruda de Almeida, Mateus Oliveira da Cruz, Maria Carolina Rosa Pinto, Roger Fagner Ribeiro Melo, Suzana Brito Gomes da Silva & André Luíz Cabral Monteiro de Azevedo Santiago

Sydowia 78: 105-112

Published online on May 28th, 2025

The genus Piptocephalis comprises biotrophic species with rhizoids that attach to the host, as well as haustoria penetrating the host´s hyphae. The merosporangiophores are strongly dichotomously branched, with merosporangia formed from head cells or from terminal branches. During a survey on zygosporic fungi in the Brazilian Cerrado biome, we came across a Piptocephalis species on Absidia and Gongronella (Mucorales) hosts. After a morphological analysis, we concluded it was an undescribed species, which is proposed here as Piptocephalis hoae. The new species is described and illustrated and an updated identification key for the genus, as well as a map with geographic distribution of Piptocephalis are provided.

Keywords: biotrophic parasite, soil, taxonomy, Zoopagomyceta, Zoopagomycetes.

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