Ciliomyces Höhn., Sber. Akad. Wiss.

Ciliomyces Höhn., Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 115: 673. 1906. MycoBank MB 1057. Type species: Ciliomyces oropensis (Ces.) Höhn. Ascomata perithecioid, globose to ovoid, superficial, scattered, totally covered by whitish tomentum, with visible ostiole. Ascomatal wall up to 35 µm thick, composed of pseudoparenchymatous thick-walled cells. Asci clavate, short-stalked,8-spored (rarely 4-spored). Ascospores hyaline, ovoid to narrowly ellipsoid, with elongate appendages at each end, submuriform to muriform. Asexual morph acremonium-like with 1–3-septate, hyaline, ellipsoid to subcylindrical conidia. Notes: Our phylogeny shows that the sequences of Paranectria oropensis clustered in a well-supported monophyletic clade are only distinctly related to the type of the genus Paranectria, P. affinis. Furthermore, we observed morphological differences in ascomata and ascospores of both species. Therefore Ciliomyces, with the type species Ciliomyces oropensis, is reinstated here from the synonyms of Paranectria. The genus Ciliomyces was established by Höhnel (Höhnel & Litschauer 1906) to accommodate the lichenicolous species Ciliomyces oropensis and was later accepted by Keissler (1930) and Samuels (1976) as a separate genus. However, referring to the presence of elongate appendages at each end of ascospores in both genera, Hawksworth & Pirozynski (1977) considered Ciliomyces to be a heterotypic synonym of Paranectria. Nevertheless, the generic type of Paranectria, P. affinis, is characterized by white to pale luteous ascomata with arachnoid hyphae appearing only at their lower part and ascospores with transverse septa only. In contrast, the reinstated Ciliomyces is characterized by yellow orange ascomata fully covered by whitish tomentum and submuriform to muriform ascospores (Hawksworth 1982, Rossman 1983, Rossman et al. 1999, Zhurbenko 2009). Although these differences have been briefly discussed in several works, not considered to have enough taxonomic value to separate both genera (Rossman 1983, Rossman et al. 1999). No molecular data are available for Paranectria alstrupii and P. superba. However, based on their similar muriform ascospores to C. oropensis and lichenicolous lifestyle, we consider that these species can be affiliated with Ciliomyces (Hawksworth 1982, Zhurbenko 2009, Zhurbenko & Dillman 2010). We are awaiting further data before proposing formal changes.