Okeanomyces, a new genus to accommodate Halosphaeria cucullata (Halosphaeriales, Ascomycota)

The taxonomic affinity of Halosphaeria cucullata to Halosphaeria is reassessed based on a recent collection of this fungus. Halosphaeria cucullata is characterized by immersed, darkly coloured ascomata, clavate asci which deliquesce very early in development, and cylindrical ascospores with or without a polar cap‐like appendage at one end. In a phylogenetic analysis of the LSU rDNA sequences from members of the Halosphaeriaceae, H. cucullata did not form a monophyletic clade with H. appendiculata, the type species of the genus. These results suggest that H. cucullata should not be included in Halosphaeria. Okeanomyces gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate this fungus. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 146, 223–229.