Fungalpedia – Note 3183, Helicoonites
Helicoonites Kalgutkar & Sigler, Mycological Research 99: 519 (1995).
Citation when using this data: Jian Ma et al. 2024 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Notes: Helicoonites was introduced to accommodate a helicosporous hyphomycete, H. goosii as the type species, which was found in Canada (Kalgutkar and Sigler 1995). Helicoonites shares similar morphological characteristics with Helicoon and Pseudohelicoon, but Helicoonites differs by having distinct ovoid, ellipsoidal to cylindrical or beehive to barrel-shaped conidia (Goos et al. 1986; Zhao et al. 2007; Lu et al. 2018b). Additionally, Helicoonites is distinguished from other fossil helicosporous genera by having ellipsoidal to beehive-shaped conidia that are bent, or twisted in different directions (Saxena et al. 2021).
Type species: Helicoonites goosii Kalgutkar Kalgutkar & Sigler, Mycological Research 99: 520 (1995).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Helicoonites.
Figure 1 – a Colligerites kutchensis, Bar = 8 μm. b Elsikisporonites tubulatus, Bar = 12 μm. c Helicominites salvinites, Bar = 10 μm. d Helicoonites goosii, Bar = 10 μm. e Helicosporiates pirozynskii, Bar = 8 μm. f Involutisporonites foraminus, Bar = 10 μm. g Palaeocirrenalia elegans, Bar = 8 μm. h Paleoslimacomyces canadensis, Bar = 5 μm. i Retihelicosporonites elsikii, Bar = 20 μm. (redrawn from Saxena et al. (2021)).
References
Goos R. 1986– A review of the anamorph genus Helicoma. Mycologia 78(5):744–761.
Zhao G, Liu X, Wu W. 2007 – Helicosporous hyphomycetes from China. Fungal Diversity 26:313–524.
Entry by
Jian Ma, School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550003, P.R. China, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand.
Published online 18 September 2026