FUNGI REALM

Impossible to accurately describe the fungi. A ubiquitous being in living creatures on the planet, with about 140,000 spp. described, but estimates of 2.2 to 3.8M (Wikipedia). In archaic publications and even in modern magazines, they are associated with plants, although they are much closer to animals. But in the modern web of life, fungi are a unique lineage among the 78 already listed of prokaryotes.

Yes, modern fungi, animals and plants are just three of the 78 lineages of eukaryotic life forms. The other 75 were formerly part of the Protista, with some formerly thought to be fungi, now thought to be independent.

PHYLOGENETIC TREE OF FUNGI; CLICK FOR FULL SIZE

In this post, we will not talk about fungi as a whole. For those who want to know super details of the evolution of this group, we recommend Ortiz & Gabaldón (PMC/2019). Here we discreetly list three types of fungi interesting from the perspective of Almanaque Z: the truffles (Tuber), the aquatic basidiomycota and the bioluminescent fungi.

PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF THE FUNGI THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED HERE

TUBER, TUBERACEAE, PEZIZIALES

Tuber P.Micheli ex F.H.Wigg., true 'truffles', is a genus in the Tuberaceae family of fungi, with estimated molecular dating to the end of the Jurassic period (156 Mya). It includes several species of truffles that are highly valued as delicacies. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi (2008), this widespread genus contains 86 spp. In 2015 a new species T. petrophilum Milenković, P. Jovan., Grebenc, Ivančević & Marković, in Milenković, Grebenc, Marković & Ivančević was discovered in the Dinaric Alps (Southeastern Europe, Serbia). In 2016, two new species were discovered in introduced trees of pecans cultivated in Brazil but putatively native from North America, T. floridanum A. Grupe, Sulzbacher & M.E. Smith and T. brennemanii A. Grupe, Healy & M.E. Smith. (Wikipedia).

AGARICALES

Agaricales includes about 13,000 described mushrooms, and it includes all the mushrooms that we want to highlight here: the bioluminescent mushrooms and the aquatic mushrooms.

BIOLUMINESCENT

Worldwide, among the luminescent species, 125 species of mushroom-forming fungi have been recorded to date. These fungi represent five distinct lineages

Armillaria ‣ Armillaria species at Physalacriaceae (12 spp.), absents in South America.

Mycenoid ‣ 4-8 genera with bioluminescents, Mycena, Filoboletus (manipularis group), Panellus (Panellus/Dictyopanus species), Roridomyces, and Resinomycena (a single bioluminescent, exclusive from SE Brazil), all anchored in the family Mycenaceae. 17 luminescent species in Brazil (Soares, C.B. et al, Phytotaxa, 2024), three in Amazonia Complex.

Omphalotus ‣ (4/)12 bioluminescent spp. (Wikipedia), Neonothopanus (2) and Omphalotus (10, California to Texas and NW & N Mexico,  E U.S.A., SW South Africa, S China to Japan in E Asia, S Australia to Tasmania) plus Nothopanus eugrammus (Japan to Malaysia) and Pleurotus decipiens, only the former in N & NE Brazil (Neonothopanus gardneri), mainly in palms.

Lucentipes ‣ two species: Gerronema viridilucens, described in 2005 based on material collected from the bark of living Eugenia fluminensis O.Berg. trees in S São Paulo State in SE Brazil; and Mycena lucentipes Desjardin, Capelari & Stevani, knwoon from SE Brazil and Puerto Rico (Desjardin et al., Mycologia, 2005); both form an independent lineage of bioluminescent fungi with uncertain phylogenetic position at the family level.

Eoscyphella ‣ a single species, exclusive from Brazil, Eoscyphella luciurceolata Silva-Filho, Stevani & Desjardin, known from a bark of Solanum swartzianum in the Atlantic Rainforest, southern Brazil. Known only from the type locality (Silva-Filho et al., Journal of Fungi, 2023).

By IPBio (VER) there are 105 spp. in the world, 17 described 12 not yet described in Brazil, mostly in the Atlantic Forest, making the forest a global hotspot for this unique type of fungus.

SOME LIGHT MUSHROOMS FROM ATALNTIC FOREST OF BRAZIL

UNDERWATER

Basidiomycota that fruit in water include only Psathyrella aquatica J.L.Frank, Coffan, & Southworth, 2010 (Wikipedia), in family Psathyrellaceae, found only in the Rogue River in Oregon, USA. It was found by Southern Oregon University professor Robert Coffan in the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Coffan and his colleagues, Darlene Southworth and Jonathan Frank, found the mushroom in 2005. The biology department at Southern Oregon University confirmed that the mushroom was a unique discovery. Once their research was published, it was named one of the most significant species discovered in 2010. They have so far been discovered in a 1 kilometer stretch of the river, and have an observed fruiting season of mid-June to late September. Many scientists were skeptical about describing this mushroom as a new species because of the hundreds of similar looking species in the Psathyrella family.

Psathyrella aquatica J.L.Frank, Coffan, & Southworth in situ, Oregon, U.S.A.

ECTOMYCORRHIZA

An ectomycorrhiza (ECM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobiont, and the roots of various plant species. The mycobiont is often from the phyla Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, and more rarely from the Zygomycota, among 78-82 fungal lineages that comprise 251-256 genera (Tedersoo & Smith, Fungal Biology Reviews, 2013). Ectomycorrhizas form on the roots of around 2% of plant species,[1] usually woody plants, including species from the birch, dipterocarp, myrtle, beech, willow, pine and rose families (Wikipedia). Pseudotulostoma volvatum OK Mill. & TW Henkel has the first occurrence of an ectomycorrhizal Ascomycota fungus in a native host plant in Brazil, in white-sand forest composed of the canopy tree Aldina heterophylla Spruce ex Benth. (Fabaceae) in NE Amazonas state (Komura et al., Plant Systematics and Evolution, 2021).

SOUTH AMERICAN CAVE SMALLER DIVERSITIES ✅

Despite the huge amount of caves that have never been scientifically explored in Brazilian territory, the knowledge of the country's troglofauna is considerable and Brazil has been establishing itself with a remarkable diversity, probably the 5th largest in the world outside Europe (after the USA, Australia, China and Mexico). For South American neighbors, the situation is quite different. There is very little information about the troglofauna of these countries, in general very fragmented and imprecise.

In light of this problem, we present here an overview of all the citations of cave animlas from the countries of South America except Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru present in White & Culver (Enciclopedia of Caves, 2019, 3th edition), with eventual notes for other sources. The text is organized by taxonomic group and has not been revised by other sources, with the information provided only slightly adapted for consistency in writing. The text was revised to exclude any citation that, in quick analysis, does not refer to troglobionts.

BY COMUNITIES

Sporadic sampling of microcrustaceans in caves and other subterranean habitats of continental Argentina and Chile, revealed a diversified yet poorly known fauna of copepods harpacticoids (e.g., Parastenocaris, Stygonitocrella, and Elaphoidella) and cyclopoids (e.g., Hesperocyclops, Paracyclops, and Tropocyclops), ostracods, syncarids Bathynellidae, Parabathynellidae, and Stygocarididae, amphipods (ingolfiellids) and isopods (protojanirids in Argentina), besides hydracarians.

BY GROUP

AMPHIPODA ‣ troglobitic Bogidiella species are known from Ecuador, and the hypogean Patagongidiella and Grossogidiella are syntopic in Argentina, all xclusively subterranean.

DIPLURA ‣ among Campodeidae diplurans, Lepidocampa has been recorded in French Guyana (troglobitic species).

COLLEMBOLA ‣ cave-restricted genus Troglospinotheca (Spinothecidae) from Argentina is monospecific with single troglobiotic species known to date. Other troglobitic species occur in Ecuador (Oncopodura, Trogolaphysa).

COLEOPTERA ‣ among detritivorous/scavenging beetles, cholevids (e.g., Dissochaetus, Adelopsis) have been found in caves all over South America, from Argentina (Ptomophagus, locally) and Chile (Eupelates, locally), besides hydrophilids (Troglochares, troglobite in Ecuador), elaterids, scarabaeids, curculionids, among others. Outside subtropical China, troglomorphic beetles are exceptionally encountered in lowland of tropical regions but regularly found in highland caves, such as Mayaphaenops sbordonii at 3000m in Guatemala.

ORTHOPTERA ‣ Rhaphidophorids (camel crickets), cave crickets in the Northern Hemisphere, have their ecological equivalents in Chilean temperate caves.

ZYGENTOMA ‣ instances of relicts, either phylogenetic or geographic include the silverfish P. spelaeus, from semiarid areas in Argentinian Patagonia.

HEMIPTERA ‣ fulgoromorph homopterans (planthoppers), such as cixiids, are plant feeders usually associated with roots in superficial caves; troglobitic species in this group have been found in Argentina.

ACARI ‣ Hygrobatidae contains numerous species recorded from subterranean waters. Among the more important genera in South America are Atractides, also in Europe, and Asia; Australiobates, Callumobates, Camposea, and Decussobates from Chile; Corticacarus in over continent. Hydryphantidae is an abundant family in underground waters, with a large number of described species. Genera containing subterranean species in South America include Clathrosperchon; Euwandesia from Chile and New Zealand. The only troglobite in Microstigmatidae is Spelocteniza ashmolei Gertsch from Ecuador.

ARANEAE ‣ Pholcidae is well represented in caves, especially in the New World tropics. Troglobitic species of Metagonia and Aymaria have been described from caves in Galapagos Islands. Other genera containing cave-associated species include Physocyclus in Uruguay, Modisimus in French Guyana, Spermophora in Argentina. Cave mygalomorphs are frequent in tropical caves; they include the large theraphosids (tarantulas) recorded in Argentina; and a microstimatid (formerly in Dipluridae; Speleocteniza from Ecuador). The primitive araneomorph (true) spider Hickmania troglodytes from Tasmania is a troglophilic member of Austrochilidae, a family that also occurs in Chile and Argentina. Several other araneomorph families, mostly comprising small ground spiders, have troglomorphic representatives in South America, for instance: Hahniidae (Chile). Oonopidae includes several cave-associated species, including several troglobites, as Gamasomorpha in Ecuador and Ceylon.

OPILIONES ‣ triaenonychids were reported for Chile, Argentina, with troglobitic genera containing troglobites include Picunchenops in Argentina. Picunchenops spelaeus should be a distribution relict in the Argentinian Patagonia, since harvestmen are hygrophilous, low vagile, nocturnal, and cryptobiotic, hence the semiarid epigean environment would hamper surface dispersion. Genera containing troglophiles or trogloxenes include Pachyloides from Uruguay.

 

PSEUDOSCORPIONA ‣ Syarinidae contains cave-associated species in the caves of Europe, North America, South America (Ideobisium in Ecuador), and the West Indies. 

SCORPIONIDA ‣ troglobitic species include Troglotayosicus vachoni, from Ecuador.

SCHIZOMIDA ‣ a large number of species of Hubbardiidae have been recorded from caves, but unquestioned troglobites are known only from caves in Cuba, Jamaica, Belize, Mexico, California (USA), Ecuador (Tayos ashmolei), and Australia. 

PALPIGRADA ‣ among palpigrads, several Eukoenenia species have been reported as troglobites in French Guyana.

ACTINOPTERIGY ‣ in South America except Brazil all but two species are siluriforms (catfishes), most pertaining to the Trichomycteridae and Heptapteridae. Most trichomycterids belong to the genus Trichomycterus, with troglobitic representatives with troglobitic representatives in Bolivia (at least one), followed by Silvinichthys (Argentina). Troglobitic heptapterids belong to the genera Rhamdia (1 in Ecuador, from caves in the Napo Province). Other siluriform families with troglobites in region are Astroblepidae (Ecuador). Cave-adapted members of the catfish genus Astroblepus in Ecuador possess a unique adaptation to detect changes in water flow.

BY LOCATION

FRENCH GUIANA ‣ cited here: Lepidocampa (Diplura), Eukoenenia (Palpigrada), Modisimus (Araneae).

ECUADOR ‣ cited here: Ideobisium (Syarinidae/Pseudoscorpiona), Troglotayosicus vachoni (Scorpionida), Tayos ashmolei (Schizomida), Metagonia, Aymaria (Araneae, in Galapagos), Gamasomorpha (Araneae, Oonopidae), Spelocteniza ashmolei (Microstigmatidae), Bogidiella (Amphipoda), Oncopodura, Trogolaphysa (Collembola), Troglochares (Coleoptera), Rhamdia (Actinopterigy/Heptapteridae), Astroblepus (Actinopterigy/Astroblepidae). Likewise, the troglophilic and guanophilic fauna of Los Tayos cave in Ecuador included ca. 100 species of earthworms, isopods, chilopods, opiliones, diplopods (11 families), spiders (about 20 families), and 11 insect orders, mainly coleopterans and dipterans.

BOLIVIA ‣ cited here: Trichomycteridae (Actinopterigy). Other sources: the only citation found for troglobias in Bolivia was a sampling in the Umajalanta cave (Furtado et al., International Journal of Speleology, 2022), 11 troglobia species were cited for it: Trichomycterus chaberti, Coleoptera (3, one described, Escolatrechus bolivianus), Acari/Rhagidiidae (1), Collembola/Entomobryomorpha (1), and Dubioniscidae (1).

ARGENTINA ‣ cited here: Spermophora, large theraphosids (Araneae), Picunchenops (Opiliona/Triaenonychid), fulgoromorph homopterans (planthoppers), such as cixiids; Ptomophagus (Coleoptera); P. spelaeus (Zygentoma); Troglospinotheca (Spinothecidae/Collembola); Silvinichthys (Actinopterigy).

CHILE ‣ cited here: Rhaphidophorids (Orthoptera), Hahniidae (Araneae), Australiobates, Callumobates, Camposea, Decussobates (Acari/Hygrobatidae), Clathrosperchon, Euwandesia (Hydryphantidae), Eupelates (Coleoptera).

URUGUAY ‣ cited here: Physocyclus (Araneae), Pachyloides (Opiliona).