Abstract
BACKGROUND: Freshwater fungi refer to the fungi that depend on the freshwater habitats for the whole life cycle or part of their life cycle. In this context, a new aquatic hyphomycete was isolated from decaying wood in a freshwater habitat in Jiangxi Province, China. NEW INFORMATION: Dictyochaetajiangxiensis sp. nov., a new aquatic hyphomycete, is characterised by its unbranched, septate, base-fertile conidiophores with multisepta and single phialide at the apex, brown, sterile seta, monophialidic, subcylindrical conidiogenous cells narrowing below the funnel-shaped collarette, hyaline, unicellular, thin-walled, smooth, guttulate, falcate to subclavate conidia narrowly rounded at both ends with hair-like appendages. Phylogenetically, the new species Dictyochaetajiangxiensis clustered together with Dictyochaetabrevis MFLU 19-0216 in a well-supported clade, but formed a separate branch. In order to better define the taxonomic status of the new species, a phylogenetic tree of most closely-related taxa in Chaetosphaeriaceae was established, based on multi-locus sequences (ITS and LSU). The novel species is described and illustrated. Newly-generated molecular data of Dictyochaetajiangxiensis is also provided.