Morphological and phylogenetic analyses reveal Conidiobolus longivillosus sp. nov., a new cryptic species with long villose conidia in the Conidiobolus coronatus species complex

<i>Conidiobolus coronatus</i> (Cost.) Batko is the most common species within the genus <i>Conidiobolus sensu stricto</i> (s.s.). Historically, the presence of villose conidia in <i>C. coronatus</i> was considered a unique morphological characteristic distinguishing it from other <i>Conidiobolus</i> s.s. members. However, <i>Conidiobolus lunulus</i>, reported to infect leafcutter ants and produce half-moon-shaped microspores, was identified as the second species with villose conidia. These findings suggest that <i>C. coronatus</i> represents a species complex. In the present study, we isolated the third species with villose conidia, characterized by its long villi and named it <i>Conidiobolus longivillosus</i> sp. nov. Phylogenetic analyses based on single-gene phylogenies (nucLSU, nucSSU and ITS) and multi-gene phylogenies (nucLSU, nucSSU, <i>TEF1</i>, ITS and mtSSU), along with the pairwise homoplasy index test and Poisson tree processes analysis, were performed to recognize this cryptic species. The results not only support <i>C. longivillosus</i> as an independent species but also imply the existence of cryptic species within the <i>C. coronatus</i> species complex.