What are freshwater and marine fungi?

Aquatic fungi are fungi that undergo all or part of their lifecycle submerged in either fresh or saline water. They are often saprophytes which decompose fallen wood, leaves, stems, animal parts, and another dead organic matter that is in water. However, plant pathogenic fungi, lichens, mycorrhizae and endophytes are also present in aquatic systems.

Fungi of terrestrial origin (and their DNA) also enter water bodies, but don’t grow or sporulate in water. We don’t consider these to be aquatic fungi.

Aquatic fungi often have specialised spores for dispersal in water, such as tetra-radiate (4-pronged), sigmoid (snake-like) spores. Many have specialised appendages or mucilaginous sheaths for attaching to substrates or vectors for dispersal such as insects and birds.