Seasonal patterns of primary colonization by lignicolous marine fungi in Hong Kong

Abstract

During a 14-month investigation of the seasonal pattern of primary colonization by lignicolous marine fungi in the coastal waters of Hong Kong, a pine block (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) was submerged each month at each of the five stations and recovered in the following month. Thirty-eight species of fungi were isolated, three of which were not identified. In this first recorded attempt to describe fungal colonization on submerged blocks quantitatively, five species (Periconia prolifica, Cirrenalia macrocephala, Ceriosporopsis halima, Trichocladium achrasporum and Halosphaeria quadricornuta) were the most frequent and most abundant fungi on the monthly blocks. Statistical analyses of seasonal abundance of these fungi are presented and their occurrence in relation to varying temperature and salinity throughout the year, including the Phoma pattern, are discussed.