''Arachnomyces'' is a genus of cleistothecial

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...

fungi described in 1902, of which the

anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an ase ...

(asexual) stage is the genus ''Onychocola''. Although morphologically similar to members of other families, the fungus now belongs to its own

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family Arachnomycetaceae, which is the only family in the monotypic order Arachnomycetales.

Phylogeny

The placement of ''Arachnomyces'' has changed multiple times due to its morphological similarities to members of different

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

. When first described in 1902, it was included in the old family Perisporiaceae. Later it was considered as part of

Onygenaceae The Onygenaceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the Ascomycota, class Eurotiomycetes. Genera These are the genera that are in the Onygenaceae, according to a 2021 review of fungal classification. Following the genus name is the Author ...

, then it was placed within the

Gymnoascaceae The Gymnoascaceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota, class Eurotiomycetes Eurotiomycetes is a large class of ascomycetes with cleistothecial ascocarps within the subphylum Pezizomycotina, currently containing around 3810 species accordi ...

in 1996. Thanks to

phylogenetic analyses In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

''Arachnomyces'' is currently recognized as a distinct

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

lineage, composing its own family Arachnomycetaceae and order Arachnomycetales within the class

Eurotiomycetes Eurotiomycetes is a large class of ascomycetes with cleistothecial ascocarps within the subphylum Pezizomycotina, currently containing around 3810 species according to the Catalogue of Life. It is the third largest lichen A lichen ( , ) is ...

Taxonomy

There are currently 16 accepted species of ''Arachnomyces''. * '' Arachnomyces bostrychodes'' * '' Arachnomyces flavidulus'' * '' Arachnomyces glareosus'' * '' Arachnomyces graciliformis'' * '' Arachnomyces gracilis'' * ''

Arachnomyces jinanicus ''Arachnomyces'' is a genus of cleistothecial ascomycete fungi described in 1902, of which the anamorph (asexual) stage is the genus ''Onychocola''. Although morphologically similar to members of other families, the fungus now belongs to its own ...

'' * '' Arachnomyces kanei'' (

''Onychocola kanei'') * '' Arachnomyces minimus'' * '' Arachnomyces minutus'' * '' Arachnomyces nitidus'' * '' Arachnomyces nodosetosus'' (anamorph ''Onychocola canadensis'') * '' Arachnomyces peruvianus'' ''Anixiopsis peruviana'' ; =''Xanthothecium peruvianum'' * '' Arachnomyces pilosus'' ''Chrysosporium_pilosus''_.html" ;"title="Chrysosporium.html" ;"title="''Chrysosporium">''Chrysosporium pilosus'' ">Chrysosporium.html" ;"title="''Chrysosporium">''Chrysosporium pilosus'' * ''Arachnomyces scleroticus'' [=''Malbranchea sclerotica'' ; =''Onychocola sclerotica'' ] * ''Arachnomyces sulphureus'' * ''Arachnomyces validus''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4783578 Eurotiomycetes