Biodiversity and Functional Annotation of Fungi Recorded in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract Fungi are frequently recorded in marine environments worldwide, commonly associated with inert or living substrates in shallow temperate waters as well as in deep, cold and dark habitats. Despite their observed wide distribution, a comprehensive understanding of their biodiversity and functions is undermined by data scattered across research articles in various scientific fields. Consequently, the transition from a basic knowledge of gaps and biodiversity patterns to a quantitative ecological understanding based on fungal functions is slowed down. To overcome this, we present an assembled dataset consisting of fungal records from the Mediterranean Sea along with the annotation of their potential function and trophic behavior following the FUNGuild criteria. From 125 selected reference articles, we gathered 4623 records spanning environments from coastal areas to deep-sea, corresponding to 914 unique taxa. Fungal records are concentrated on the western side of the Mediterranean basin, and their functions were rarely thoroughly investigated. Dikarya fungi are the most recorded group, while zoosporic lineages are underrepresented. The compiled dataset highlights biases in mycological biodiversity knowledge and supports studies aimed at comprehensively mapping fungi and their functions in the Mediterranean Sea.