Fungalpedia – Note 2508, Ceratolentaceae
Ceratolentaceae. K.D. Hyde & Hongsanan.
Citation when using this data: Hyde KD et al. 2021 – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank
Classification: Incertae sedis, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Saprobic on decaying deciduous wood. Sexual morph: Ascomata astromatic, immersed, subglobose to globose with a long neck, dark brown. Neck cylindrical emerging above the substratum, straight or slightly curved, ostiolate, periphysate. Peridium leathery, two-layered. Paraphyses hyaline, septate, guttulate, filiform, tapering toward the tip, longer than the asci. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical to clavate, long-stipitate, broadly rounded at the apex with a refringent inamyloid apical ring. Ascospores uniseriate or biseriate, fusiform, hyaline, three-septate, without gelatinous sheath. Asexual morph: Undetermined.
Notes: Ceratolenta was introduced by Réblová et al. (2013) with a single species, Ceratolenta caudata. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Ceratolenta is closely related to Bullimyces (Réblová et al. 2013). Similar results were obtained by Maharachchikumbura et al. (2015), Luo et al. (2019) and Hyde et al. (2020a). Ceratolenta clustered with Bullimyces with low statistical support. Morphologically, Ceratolenta shares some similar characters with Bullimyces, such as, globose to subglobose ascomata with a long neck, unitunicate, cylindrical asci and fusiform, hyaline, septate ascospores. However, we can easily distinguish them by the paraphyses, asci and ascospores. Ceratolenta has guttulate, filiform paraphyses, cylindrical to clavate, long-pedicellate asci with a refringent, J-, apical ring and uniseriate or biseriate, hyaline, fusiform ascospores without a gelatinous sheath. However, paraphyses in Bullimyces are globose, hyaline cells, asci are cylindrical and lack an apical ring and ascospores are uniseriate, broadly ellipsoidal-fusiform to ellipsoidal, hyaline becoming dark yellow with age and some species have a gelatinous sheath or appendages. The habitats of these two genera are also different, Ceratolenta was reported from terrestrial habitats in the Czech Republic, whereas, Bullimyces reported from freshwater habitats in Costa Rica (Ferrer et al. 2012).
Based on these morphological differences, a distinct, well-supported phylogeny and divergence estimates (81 MYA) are within the family range (Hyde et al. 2017), we introduce a new family to accommodate the genus.
Type genus: Ceratolenta Réblová, in Réblová, Stepanek & Schumacher, Mycologia 105(2): 466 (2013).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Ceratolentaceae.
References
Entry by
Kevin David Hyde, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Research Centre of Microbial Diversity and Sustainable Ultilization, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Innovative Institute of Plant Health, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510225, PR China
Published online 28 May 2026