Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. The Chaetomiaceae of La Palma (Canary Islands)

© 2025 Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute You are free to share - to copy, distribute and transmit the work, under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non-commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No derivative works: You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work, which can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights. ISSN (Online) 1878-9080 https://doi.org/10.3114/persoonia.2025.54.03 Persoonia 54, 2025: 93–117 https://www.persoonia.org RESEARCH ARTICLE Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. The Chaetomiaceae of La Palma (Canary Islands) A.P. Sastoque1, J.F. Cano-Lira1*, A.M. Stchigel1 1Mycology Unit, Medical School, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, C/Sant Llorenç 21, 43201 Reus, Tarragona, Spain *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract: The Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean within the Macaronesian biogeographic region, consist of seven main islands alongside numerous smaller ones of volcanic origin, representing the southernmost region of Spain. This archipelago shows a variety of microclimates and ecological settings, encompassing from laurisilva cloud forests to montane pine forests and deserts, responsible for diverse flora and fauna rich in endemism. Despite considerable research focused on the biodiversity of plant and animal life, knowledge regarding fungi, particularly micromycetes, remains comparatively limited. Building on our ongoing investigation of soil-borne ascomycetes of the Canary Islands, initiated several decades ago, we collected samples from the southern region of La Palma Island. At the laboratory, these samples were processed using different semi-selective techniques aimed at isolating ascomycetes, such as the Warcup’s soil plate method, the activation of soil dormant ascospores with 5 % acetic acid, and ToKaVa hair baiting method. After a phenotypic characterization, subsequent molecular identification of the fungal strains was conducted through amplification and sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) and the domains D1-D2 of the Large Subunit (LSU) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA, and fragments of the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2), β-tubulin (tub2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef) genes. Preliminary taxonomic assignment was carried out using BLAST searches, followed by phylogenetic studies for precise taxonomic delimitation. Among the identified members of the Chaetomiaceae, noteworthy taxa include Achaetomium aegilopsis, Canariomyces arenarius, Carteria arctostaphyli, Ovatospora senegalensis, Parathielavia kuwaitensis, Pseudohumicola alba, and P. glauca, representing the first documented occurrences in volcanic soils. Furthermore, the discovery encompasses the description of three new genera (Oidiosporium, Phaeohyphomyces and Steirochaetomium) and nine new species (Botryotrichum pseudomurorum, Canariomyces asexualis, Carteria canariensis, Oidiosporium botulisporum, Phaeohyphomyces canariensis, Pseudohumicola cinnamobrunnea, P. intercalispora, P. variispopra and Steirochaetomium canariensis) within this fungal family. These findings underscore the significance of volcanic soils of La Palma Island as reservoirs of novel micromycetes, particularly emphasizing the prevalence of Chaetomiaceae members as revealed by the applied isolation methodologies. Citation: Sastoque AP, Cano-Lira JF, Stchigel AM (2025). Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. The Chaetomiaceae of La Palma (Canary Islands). Persoonia 54: 93–117. doi: 10.3114/persoonia.2025.54.03 Received: 11 April 2024; Accepted: 25 March 2025; Effectively published online: 14 May 2025 Corresponding editor: J. Houbraken Key words: Ascomycota Fungi new taxa phylogeny taxonomy volcanic soil INTRODUCTION The Canary Islands consist of seven main islands alongside with several smaller ones, islets, and rocks situated in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 100 km off the northwest coast of Africa. This Spanish archipelago, located within the Macaronesian biogeographic region (Carracedo & Troll 2021, http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2024/449/oj, accessed on 4 April 2024), is characterized by its volcanic origin, resulting in distinctive landscapes marked by steep mountain slopes and lava flows. The islands experience low seasonal temperature variations, minimal precipitation, and predominantly dry conditions. In terms of topography and geomorphology, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (the easternmost islands) are characterized by low, rocky, and arid terrain with xeric shrub vegetation. In contrast, the remaining Canary Islands are mountainous, with elevations exceeding 2000 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) and are home to extensive forests of conifers and laurisilva cloud forests. These unique characteristics strongly influence the distribution and diversity of biological components across various habitats (Fernández et al. 1978, European Environment Agency 2004). In the northwest of the Canary archipelago lies the island of La Palma, characterized by rugged terrain consisting of ravines, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and forests. The island has a triangular shape, with its widest side in the northern part, spanning a surface area of 708 km2 and reaching its highest point at the Roque de los Muchachos, towering at 2426 m.a.s.l. La Palma is particularly exposed to marine air systems influenced by the Canary Current, resulting in a Mediterranean subtropical climate. Summers are dry and hot, with average temperatures surpassing 22 °C, while winters are humid and rainy, featuring mild temperatures (KöppenGeiger climate type Csa). The island’s inland areas experience a more humid climate, fostering lush laurisilva cloud forests at its centre (https://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/ Persoonia – Volume 54, 202594 datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos#tab2, accessed on 21 February 2024). Its geomorphology divides it into two, offering great qualitative richness and extraordinary landscape diversity. On the one hand, the oldest materials from the North of the island, which have been subjected for a long time to the action of climatic and biological phenomena, have created deep, fertile soils rich in natural conditions. On the other hand, in the South of the island, of recent volcanism, the soils are thin, stony, poor and of low fertility (Porras Martín et al. 1985, European Environment Agency 2004, Cabildo La Palma 2011). The flora and fauna of the island of La Palma, despite the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in 2021, have been minimally affected by this natural event. As a result, the island maintains a high biodiversity and remains rich in endemic species. Its plant communities range from the tabaibalcardonal scrubland to the summit scrub, encompassing laurel forests and Canary Island pine forests, along with numerous species of plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. Notable examples include the big-headed Teneguía (Cheirolophus junonianus), the summit pansy (Viola palmensis), and the pininana (Echium pininana), as well as various arthropods – particularly beetles – molluscs, reptiles, bats, and birds. Among these are the La Palma subspecies of the Tenerife lizard (Gallotia galloti palmae), the unique Canary long-eared bat (Plecotus teneriffae), the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax barbarus), and the endemic laurel forest pigeons (Columba bollii and Columba junoniae). However, as previously mentioned, both the presence and diversity of flora and fauna is significantly reduced in the southern part of the island due to its geomorphological features as well the meteorological conditions (http://rerb.oapn.es/red-espanolade-reservas-de-la-biosfera/reservas-de-la-biosferaespanolas/mapa/la-palma/descripcion-general; https://www. biodiversidadcanarias.es/biota/especie/F01516, accessed on 20 February 2024). Among the soil micromycetes of the Canary Islands, only a few studies have been conducted (von Arx 1984, BeltránTejera et al. 2009, Zachow et al. 2009, Hernández-Restrepo et al. 2017), but only one of them (von Arx 1984) mention the finding of a new species, Canariomyces notabilis, as well as other members of the family Chaetomiaceae, i.e. Achaetomium, Chaetomidium, Chaetomium and Thielavia, despite the identification at species level has not been mentioned. Fungal species recorded from the Canary Islands, as well as their geographic distribution and source, can be found in different freely available online databases (https://www.biodiversidadcanarias.es/biota/, accessed 14 August 2024, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations ?nelat=29.463514&nelng=-13.31543&place_id=any&sub view=map&swlat=27.425414&swlng=-18.391113&taxon_ id=48250&verifiable=any, accessed 14 August 2024) but also printed checklists (Beltrán-Tejera et al. 2009, Arechavaleta et al. 2010). Therefore, the main objective of our study was to further investigate the biodiversity of soil ascomycetes in the soils of La Palma, focusing on the family Chaetomiaceae of the Canary Islands, due to the high prevalence found. We used both general and semi-selective techniques for their isolation and applied a taxonomic polyphasic approach for their phylogenetic placement and identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sampling sites Fourteen samples of soils were collected in 2008 from three sites near the village of Fuencaliente (Los Canarios) in the South of La Palma Island: San Antonio volcano (Ca2, Ca6), Teneguía volcano (Ca1, Ca5, Ca8, Ca10−Ca14), and the Fuencaliente lighthouse (Ca3, Ca4, Ca7, Ca9). Isolation of the soil-borne fungi Samples of approximately 100 g of the topmost layer of soil, devoid of organic matter, were collected and placed in sterile polyethylene bags, and sealed with rubber bands. These samples were stored at room temperature until shipment to our laboratory in suitable containers via postal mail. Upon arrival, the samples underwent processing using various isolation techniques by duplicate. Each sample was incubated at both 25 °C and 37 °C. The cultivation of samples was performed using the Warcup’s soil plate method (Warcup 1950) on glycerol agar 18 % (G18; Rodríguez-Andrade et al. 2019) and ascospore agar (AA; Adams 1949). Also, dormant ascospores in soil samples were “activated” by 5 % acetic acid according to Stchigel et al. (2001). Finally, the ToKaVa hair baiting method was used to recover keratinophilic ascomycetes (Vanbreuseghem 1952). Fungal structures were transferred using sterile disposable hypodermic needles and syringes (tuberculin/insulin type) to 50-mm-diam. disposable Petri dishes containing oatmeal agar (OA; Samson et al. 2010). The dishes were then incubated at 25 °C under a 12-h dark cycle, alternating with 12 h of cool white, fluorescent light. This process was repeated until a pure culture was obtained. Strains of interest were deposited in the culture collection at the Faculty of Medicine (FMR, Reus, Spain) in three different forms: slant cultures on OA and potato dextrose agar (PDA; Hawksworth et al. 1996) under a layer of sterile liquid paraffin; OA blocks (where the strain had grown) immersed in sterile water in caramel-coloured self-sealing vials; and lyophilized. Holotypes and culture ex-types of the novel fungal taxa were deposited in the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute (CBS; Utrecht, The Netherlands). The names and descriptions were deposited in MycoBank (https:// www.mycobank.org/). Phenotypic characterization of the fungal strains Fungal strains were inoculated onto OA and PDA in 90-mmdiam. sterile disposable Petri dishes and then incubated at 25 °C under a 12-h dark cycle, alternating with 12-h of cool white, fluorescent light (Wang et al. 2022). The cultures were examined weekly under a dissecting microscope for up to 3 mo to observe the development of reproductive structures. These structures were processed in the same manner as previously described and mounted on a drop of lactic acid as a mounting medium, between a slide and a coverslip. Subsequently, they were observed and measured using an Olympus BH-2 bright field microscope equipped with an eyepiece scale (Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). For isolates of particular interest, the morphology of both vegetative and reproductive structures was studied in detail Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 95 using the slide culture technique according to Riddell (1950) and Wang et al. (2022), which involved inoculating OA and/or potato carrot agar (PCA; Langeron & Vanbreuseghem 1952) agar blocks of 1 cm2. These cultures were then incubated for 2–14 wk at 25 °C in wet chambers. Subsequently, coverslips were transferred onto slides with a drop of lactic acid as a mounting medium for observation under a bright field microscope. Digital images of the samples were captured using a DeltaPix Infinity X camera attached to the Zeiss Axio Imager M1 microscope (Oberkochen, Germany), employing Nomarski interference contrast (DIC) and phase contrast (PC) condensers. Image editing was performed using Adobe Photoshop CS6 v. 13.0 (Adobe Systems, San Jose, CA, USA). Culture characteristics and micromorphology were observed at 25 °C on malt extract agar (MEA; Reiss, 1972), OA, PCA, PDA, and corn meal agar (CMA; Benham, 1931), from 1–4 wk, following the methods described by Wang et al. (2022). Cardinal temperatures were determined by incubating the inoculated PDA plates at 5, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 37, 40, and 45 °C for 1 wk. Colony colour notations were referenced from (Kornerup & Wanscher 1978). DNA extraction, amplification, and sequencing The fungal strains were inoculated onto PDA and incubated for 1–2 wk at 25 °C. Subsequently, the aerial mycelium and fruiting structures were removed by scraping with a sterile scalpel, and DNA was extracted using the FastDNA kit protocol (Bio; Vista, CA, USA), supplemented with 50 mg of 425–600 μm size-fractionated glass beads and acid-washed [Sigma, Madrid, Spain], with a FastPrep-24™ instrument (Thermo Savant, Holbrook, NY, USA). DNA quantification was performed using a NanoDrop 2000 instrument (Thermo Scientific, Madrid, Spain). To facilitate molecular phylogenetic analysis and identification, partial sequences of five nuclear loci were amplified: ITS, LSU, rpb2, tub2 and tef. The primers used for the amplification of these loci – ITS (White et al. 1990), LSU (Kurtzman & Robnett 1997, Vilgalys & Hester 1990), rpb2 (Liu, Whelen, & Hall 1999), tub2 (O’Donnell & Cigelnik 1997, Woudenberg et al. 2009), and tef (Rehner & Buckley 2005) – are listed in Table S1. The amplification reactions were conducted using the EmeraldAmp® GT PCR Master Mix (Takara Bio Inc., SaintGermain-en-Laye, France) following the manufacturer’s instructions for a reaction volume of 25 μL. Each reaction tube contained 5 pmol of each primer and 50 ng of template DNA. Amplification was performed using the MyCycler™ Thermal Cycler (Bio-Rad, Feldkirchen, Germany). The initial denaturation step was set at 95 °C for 5 min, followed by 35 cycles of denaturation at 95 °C for 30 s, annealing at temperatures specified in Table S1 for 30 s, and extension at 72 °C for 30 s, with a final extension step at 72 °C for 7 min. The amplicons were sequenced bidirectionally using the same primer pair employed for amplification at Macrogen Spain (Macrogen Inc., Madrid, Spain). Consensus sequences were generated using SeqMan software v. 7.0.0 (DNAStar Lasergene, Madison, WI, USA) and subsequently deposited in GenBank. Phylogenetic inference Preliminary molecular identification of the fungal strains involved comparing each gene sequence with those available in the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database (Altschul et al. 1990) using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST; https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/Blast.cgi, accessed on 21 February 2024). The ITS sequences were employed to confirm the strain assignment to the family Chaetomiaceae, while rpb2 and tub2 sequences were utilized for identification at the genus and species level (Wang et al. 2016a, b, 2019a, b, 2022, Alves et al. 2022, Oliveira et al. 2023). For the phylogenetic analysis, the nucleotide sequences were aligned using the ClustalW (Thompson et al. 1994) application of the MEGA (Kumar et al. 2016) computer program and manually adjusted using the same software platform. Phylogenetic reconstructions were made by maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) with RAxML (Stamatakis 2014) in CIPRES web (https:// www.phylo.org/) (Miller et al. 2012) and MrBayes v. 3.2.6 (Ronquist et al. 2012), respectively, for each locus and all loci together after comparing the tree topology. The best substitution model for each gene matrix was estimated using MrModelTest v. 2.3.25 (Nylander 2004). For ML analyses, nearest–neighbor interchange was used as the heuristic method for tree inference. Support for internal branches was assessed by 1000 ML bootstrapped pseudoreplicates. Bootstrap support (BS) of ≥ 70 % was considered significant (Felsenstein 1985, Degnan 2016). For BI analyses, Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) (Metropolis & Ulam 1949) sampling was carried out with four million generations, with samples taken every 1000 generations. The 50 % majority rule consensus trees and posterior probability values (PP) were calculated after removing the first 25 % of the resulting trees for burn–in. A PP value of ≥ 0.95 was considered statistically significant (Money 2016, Yang 2016). The nucleotide sequences generated during the development of our study, as well as those retrieved from the NCBI databases to build the phylogenetic tree, are listed in Table 1. To construct the multilocus phylogenetic tree, sequences from 92 ingroups were utilized. The selection of sequences from the NCBI databases was based on percentage similarity (using the BLAST search tool), with a minimum cutoff of 85 % for rpb2 and 80 % for tub2, compared to the sequences generated in this study. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis included sequences from two outgroups, Sordaria equicola CBS 146992 and Neurospora tetraspora CBS 178.33. The alignment has been deposited in Zenodo (https://zenodo. org/; doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10948357). RESULTS Phylogenetic analysis Bayesian inference and ML analysis showed a similar tree topology, with congruent results for each individual gene. However, LSU and ITS displayed a limited support for members of this family, consistent with a previous report Persoonia – Volume 54, 202596 Oidiosporium Thermocarpiscus Phaeohyphomyces Parathielavia Achaetomium Carteria Ovatospora Trichocladium Canariomyces Chaetomium Corynascus Arxotrichum Parachaetomium Botryotrichum Humicola Pseudohumicola Steirochaetomium 0.02 Achaetomium aegilopis FMR 19009 Neurospora tetraspora CBS 178.33T Arxotrichum gangligerum CBS 160.52T Parachaetomium mareoticum CBS 802.83 Pseudothielavia arxii CBS 603.97T Achaetomium luteum CBS 544.83 Parathielavia kuwaitensis FMR 18826 Pseudohumicola variispora FMR 18822T Parathielavia kuwaitensis CBS 119771 Thermocarpiscus australiensis CBS 493.74T Ovatospora senegalensis FMR 18788 Parathielavia kuwaitensis FMR 18818 Ovatospora senegalensis CBS 728.84T Ovatospora senegalensis FMR 19005 Pseudohumicola lutea COAD 3127T Steirochaetomium canariensis FMR 19096T Oidiosporium botulisporum FMR 18828T Canariomyces vonarxii CBS 251.85 Botryotrichum spirotrichum CBS 211.55T Ovatospora pseudomollicella CBS 251.75T Parachaetomium muelleri CBS 192.84T Achaetomium aegilopis FMR 18802 Parathielavia appendiculata CBS 723.68T Achaetomium aegilopis IRAN 3453CT Pseudohumicola cecavii URM 8444T Parachaetomium inequale CBS 331.75T Canariomyces notabilis CBS 548.83T Botryotrichum atrogriseum CBS 130.28T Phaeohyphomyces canariensis FMR 19391T Parachaetomium subspirilliferum CBS 150.60T Corynascus sexualis CBS 827.96 Chaetomium citrinum CBS 693.82T Humicola homopilata CBS 157.55T Parachaetomium muelleri CBS 663.75 Pseudohumicola pulvericola CBS 144165T Canariomyces vonarxii CBS 160.80T Arxotrichum deceptivum CBS 346.73T Achaetomium globosum CBS 332.67T Botryotrichum pseudomurorum FMR 19917T Parathielavia hyrcaniae CBS 353.62T Ovatospora senegalensis CBS 798.83 Canariomyces arenarius FMR 18787 Achaetomium macrosporum CBS 152.97 Arxotrichum gangligerum CBS 130.85 Chaetomium cucumericola CBS 378.71T Ovatospora unipora CBS 109.83T Corynascus fumimontanus CBS 137294T Carteria arctostaphyli FMR 18803 Pseudohumicola cinnamobrunnea FMR 18980T Humicola lutea CBS 460.76T| Pseudohumicola debertoldii comb. nov. Canariomyces arenarius FMR 18817 Pseudohumicola alba FMR 19094 Ovatospora mollicella CBS 583.83T Carteria canariensis FMR 18819T Canariomyces microsporus CBS 276.74T Parachaetomium mareoticum CBS 781.71 Chaetomium spirochaete CBS 730.84T Pseudohumicola intercalarispora FMR 19235T Botryotrichum peruvianum CBS 421.93 Corynascus verrucosus CBS 135878 Parachaetomium biporatum CBS 244.86T Canariomyces asexualis FMR 19389T Achaetomium strumarium CBS 333.67T Pseudohumicola alba COAD 3126T Pseudohumicola subspiralis CBS 148.58 Chaetomium globosum CBS 160.62NT Steirochaetomium canariensis FMR 19392 Corynascus verrucosus CBS 137791 Chaetomium rectangulare CBS 126778 Chaetomium telluricola CBS 151.59T Botryotrichum piluliferum CBS 105.14 Parathielavia kuwaitensis CBS 945.72T Canariomyces notabilis CBS 508.74 Canariomyces microsporus CBS 161.80 Carteria arctostaphyli FMR 19237 Canariomyces arenarius CBS 507.74T Sordaria equicola CBS 146992T Chaetomium pilosum CBS 335.67T Botryotrichum murorum CBS 163.52 Humicola glauca FMR 18982 Parachaetomium longiciliatum CGMCC 3.17554T Canariomyces arenarius FMR 19065 Ovatospora brasiliensis CBS 140.50 Pseudohumicola atrobrunnea CBS 144167T Humicola fuscoatra CBS 118.14T Ovatospora medusarum CBS 148.67T Trichocladium arxii CBS 104.79T Parachaetomium carinthiacum CBS 665.82 Humicola glauca CBS 462.76T Carteria arctostaphyli CBS 229.82T Botryotrichum verrucosum CBS 116.64T Chaetomium cochliodes CBS 155.52T Pseudohumicola semispiralis CBS 723.97T Canariomyces subthermophilus CBS 509.74T 0.99/98 0.99/87 1/98 0.99/78 1/99 -/85 1/97 1/94 0.99/75 1/96 0.97/- 0.99/78 1/88 1/97 -/100 0.98/71 1/94 1/84 0.96/75 1/99 Pseudothielavia 0.98/- 1/99 0.99/87 Pseudohumicola glauca comb. nov. Fig. 1. Maximum likelihood of the tree obtained from the concatenated ITS-LSU-rpb2-tub2 (3215 bp) alignment of the nucleotide sequences from our strains and those retrieved from the GenBank. Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP) ≥ 0.95 and the RAxML bootstrap support values (BS) ≥ 70 % are presented at the nodes (PP/BS). Thickened branches indicate full support (PP = 1 and BS = 100 %). The new species and combinations are indicated in bold. T represents the ex-type strain of the species. NT represents the ex-neotype strain of the species. Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 97 (Wang et al. 2019a, b, 2022). The multilocus phylogenetic tree constructed with four molecular markers ITS-LSU-rpb2tub2 (Fig. 1) was based on 3215 positions, including gaps (631 bp for ITS, 851 bp for LSU, 857 bp for rpb2, and 876 bp for tub2). The concatenated alignment is available in Zenodo, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10948357. The phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1) revealed 18 well-supported main clades, within which we identified several fungal strains belonging to the family Chaetomiaceae. The identified species, listed in alphabetical order, include: Achaetomium aegilopsis (FMR 18802 and FMR 19009), Canariomyces arenarius (FMR 18787, FMR 18817 and FMR 19065), Carteria arctostaphyli (FMR 18803 and FMR 19237), Humicola glauca (FMR 18982), Ovatospora senegalensis (FMR 18788 and FMR 19005), Parathielavia kuwatitensis (FMR 18826 and FMR 18818), and Pseudohumicola alba (FMR 19094) (Table 1; Fig. 1). Additionally, the strains FMR 18822, FMR 18980, and FMR 19235 were identified as new species of the genus Pseudohumicola; FMR 19917, FMR 19389, and FMR 18819, as new species of the genera Botryotrichum, Canariomyces (Can.), and Carteria, respectively. The strains FMR 19096 and FMR 19392 were placed within a newly established monospecific genus, Steirochaetomium (St.). Furthermore, FMR 18828 and FMR 19391 were classified as two new genera, Oidiosporium (Oid.) and Phaeohyphomyces (Phaeoh.), respectively. Moreover, based on our phylogenetic analysis, new taxonomic combinations will be proposed for H. glauca and H. lutea. Accordingly, the new taxa and new combinations are described below. TAXONOMY Botryotrichum pseudomurorum Sastoque, Cano & Stchigel, sp. nov. MycoBank MB 847932. Fig. 2. Etymology: From Greek ψεῦδο- (pseudo-), false, because the morphological resemblance to Botryotrichum murorum. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), from soil near the lighthouse, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-25345, culture ex-type FMR 19917 = CBS 149965). Fig. 2. Botryotrichum pseudomurorum CBS 149965. A–D. Colonies on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (4-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E. Mature ascomata. F. Detail of the peridium. G. Detail of the ascomata wall, indicating the peridial layers (black line). H. Verrucose upper part of the terminal hairs. I. Asci and ascospores. J. Ascospores showing the variation of the cell wall thickness (as longitudinal striations) and the apical germ pore. Scale bars: E = 50 μm; F–I = 10 μm. Persoonia – Volume 54, 202598 On oatmeal agar after 4 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium scarce, mostly aerial, composed of septate, branching, smoothand thin-walled, subhyaline to brown, 0.5–3 μm wide hyphae. Ascomata superficial, solitary to aggregate, smoke grey to olivaceous grey under reflected light, with greenish setae, ostiolate, neck absent, globose, subglobose, ovoid, or barrel-shaped, 30–105 × 20–100 μm (Fig. 2E). Peridial wall translucent, greenish-brown to olivaceous brown, but opaque and nearly black around the ostiole (of up to 30 μm diam.) and medium brown at the base, 3–4-layered, 7–12 μm thick, outer layer of textura intricata, inner layers composed of flattened, translucent polygonal cells of 5–15 μm diam. (Figs. 2F,G); terminal hairs abundant around the ostiole, septate, straight, undulate and verrucose at the upper part (Fig. 2H), pointed or circinate at the apex, greenish-brown to olivaceous grey, mostly up to three times longer than the ascomata diameter, 5–7.5 μm wide at the base, branching; lateral hairs straight, septate, greenish brown to olivaceous grey, up to 150 μm long, covered with cup-shaped ornamentations specially at the base, pointed or rounded at the tip (Fig. 2E). Asci unitunicate, fasciculate, clavate to fusiform, spore-bearing part 36–51 × 13–20 μm, stalks 16–25 μm long, with 8 irregularly-arranged or biseriate ascospores, evanescent before ascospores become mature (Fig. 2I). Ascospores unicellular, pale pinkish brown when young, brown but irregularly coloured (varying the intensity of colour) when mature, smooth-walled, but with slight irregularity in wall thickness, broadly fusiform, (12– )13–14(–15) × (7–)7.5–8(–8.5) × 7–8 μm, attenuated at both ends, with a germ pore at one end (Fig. 2J). Asexual morph not seen. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 8–9 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin filamentous, slightlyand irregularly undulate; surface yellowish grey (4B2) with black (6F3) ascomatal covered by almond green (28E3) terminal hairs and scarce white (4A1) aerial mycelium in the central area; soluble pigment absent; reverse nougat (5D3) and marble white (5B2) margins. Colonies on OA 30–31 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin entire and regular; surface golden blonde (4C4) with scarce white (3A1) erect aerial mycelium; soluble pigment absent; reverse greyish yellow (4C5). Colonies on CMA 18–19 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin filamentous and lobulated to irregular; surface without aerial mycelium camel (6D4) and yellowish white (3A2) margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse light brown (6D5). Colonies on MEA 14–15 mm diam., flat to slightly convex; margin entire and irregularly-lobulated; surface golden blonde (5C4) with floccose white (5A1) aerial mycelium and pale yellow (3A3) margins without aerial hyphae; yellow soluble pigment; reverse butter yellow (4A5) and yellowish white (3A2) margins. Culture iconography after 4 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 2A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 5 °C, 20 °C and 35 ºC, respectively. Notes: Botryotrichum pseudomurorum was placed in the fully-supported clade corresponding to the species of the genus Botryotrichum (B.), but in a separate branch flanked by Botryotrichum murorum CBS 163.52 and Botryotrichum spirotrichum CBS 211.55 (Fig. 1). Botryotrichum pseudomurorum differs from Botryotrichum murorum by the larger ascomata (160–320 × 150–270 μm in B. murorum), and the verrucose and longer terminal hairs (usually over four times longer than ascomata (up to 3 mm long). Additionally, B. pseudomurorum is distinguished by the production of a yellow soluble pigment on MEA, a characteristic not described for B. murorum (Corda 1837, Wang et al. 2016a). While most Botryotrichum spp. have been reported from dung, air, wood or soil, they have not been specifically isolated from volcanic Fig. 3. Canariomyces asexualis CBS 149966. A–D. Colonies on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (4-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E, F. Conidia sessile, 1-celled, solitary and widely variable in shape. Scale bars = 10 μm. Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 99 soils as the case of B. pseudomurorum (Wang et al. 2016a, https://wi.knaw.nl/fungal_table, accessed on 21 February 2024). Like B. murorum, B. piluliferum, B. spirotrichum and B. verrucosum, which are mesophiles and have an optimal growing temperature of 20−30 °C (Corda 1837, Pugh et al. 1964, Domsch et al. 1980, von Arx 1985, Asgari & Zare 2011), B. pseudomurorum exhibit a rapid growth between 5 and 35 °C. However, B. verrucosum shows slow growing at 37 °C, indicating a less thermotolerance than the former species (Pugh et al. 1964). Since B. pseudomurorum was isolated using the ToKaVa technique, suggesting the ability to use the keratin as source of nutrients by enzymatic digestion, further tests are required to confirm this assumption. Canariomyces asexualis Sastoque, Stchigel & Cano, sp. nov. MycoBank MB 847933. Fig. 3. Etymology: From Latin a-, without, -sexus-, sex, and -alis, quality of, because the fungus lacks of sexual reproduction. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-25249, culture ex-type FMR 19389 = CBS 149966). On oatmeal agar after 4 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium abundant, mostly aerial, septate, branching, smoothand thin-walled hyphae when hyaline to subhyaline but granulose when pigmented, 1–4.5 μm wide, often coiled. Conidiogenous cells integrated to the hyphae, monoblastic, producing sessile conidia. Conidia 1-celled, solitary, arising laterally on the hyphae, subhyaline to olivaceous brown, smoothand thinwalled, obovoid, pyriform, broadly fusiform, subglobose, ellipsoidal, clavate or heart-shaped, 3–6 × 2.5–4 μm (Fig. 3E, F). Sexual morph not observed. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 35–36 mm diam., flat and circular; margin filamentous; surface natural (4B3) without aerial hyphae and with grey (3E1) radiate superficial mycelium; soluble pigment absent; reverse beige (4B3) and pale yellow in the centre (4A3). Colonies on OA 39–40 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin filamentous; surface beige (4B3) to golden (4C6) without aerial mycelium; soluble pigment absent; reverse uncoloured to golden (4C6). Colonies on CMA 22–23 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin filamentous; surface without aerial mycelium, champagne (4B4) in the central area with radiate soot brown (5F5) superficial mycelium and uncoloured margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse sepia (5E4). Colonies on MEA 34–35 mm diam., flat and circular; margin entire; surface with hair brown (5F2) superficial mycelium radiated, sparse floccose white (5A1) aerial mycelium just in the centre and natural (4B3) margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse like surface. Culture iconography after 4 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 3A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 12 °C, 35 °C and 40 °C, respectively. Notes: Canariomyces asexualis was placed in a fully supported terminal clade together with Canariomyces microsporus CBS 276.74 and CBS 161.80, but in a separate branch as a distinct species (Fig. 1). Canariomyces asexualis lacks a sexual morph and differs morphologically from Canariomyces microsporus in the size and shape of conidia (Can. microsporus produces obovoid to clavate conidia, measuring 4–10.5 × 2–3.5 μm, whereas Can. asexualis forms obovoid, pyriform, broadly fusiform, subglobose, ellipsoidal, clavate, or heart-shaped conidia, measuring 3–6 × 2.5–4 μm) (Mouchacca 1973, Wang et al. 2019a). Carteria canariensis Sastoque, Cano & Stchigel, sp. nov. MycoBank MB 847723. Fig. 4. Etymology: The epithet canariensis refers to the Canary Islands, due to the geographic origin of the fungus. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-25242, culture ex-type FMR 18819 = CBS 149955). On oatmeal agar after 4 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium scarce, mostly aerial, composed of septate, branching, smoothand thin-walled, subhyaline to reddish brown, 1–2 μm wide hyphae. Ascomata superficial, solitary to aggregated, often covered by aerial mycelium, non-ostiolate, dark brown in reflected light, spherical or subspherical, rarely oblate, 29–65 μm diam. (Fig. 4E, F); peridial wall thin, one-layered, brown to reddish-brown, semi-translucent, of textura epidermoidea (Fig. 4G). Asci 8-spored, subglobose, ellipsoidal, or obovate, 10–16 × 10–15 μm, without visible stalks, soon evanescent (Fig. 4H). Ascospores irregularly-arranged within the asci, 1-celled, dark brown when mature, smoothand thin-walled, ellipsoidal, (7–)8–9(–10) × (4–)4.5–5(–5.5) μm, attenuated at both ends, occasionally flattened at one side, with a subapical germ pore (Fig. 4I). Asexual morph not observed. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 8–9 mm diam., circular, flat; margin entire and regular; surface grey (28D1) to greyish green (28F4), with velvety white (5A1) aerial mycelium in the central area, and natural (4B3) colour at the margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse grey (28D1) to greenish grey (28F2), with yellowish white margins (4A2). Colonies on OA 6–7 mm diam., flat, circular; margins entire and regular; surface brownish grey (5C2) and black (6F3) at the centre; soluble pigment absent; reverse uncoloured. Colonies on CMA 6–7 mm diam., flat, circular; margins entire and regular; surface black (6F3) at the centre, surrounded by olive brown (4E4) halo, with yellowish white (3A2) margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse greyish brown (5F3) coloured. Colonies on MEA 11–12 mm diam., flat and circular; margin entire and regular; surface brownish grey (5F2) with scarce dust (5D2) aerial mycelium, surrounded by a grey (5F1) circle and with cream (4A3) margins; soluble pigment present, yellowish; reverse dark grey (1F1) at the centre, surrounded by a sepia (4F4) halo, with yellowish white (4A2) margins. Culture iconography after 4 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 4A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 12 °C, 25 °C and 35 ºC, respectively. Notes: Carteria canariensis formed a well-supported terminal branch (0.99 PP/82 % BS) as a different species Persoonia – Volume 54, 2025100 in the monospecific clade of Carteria (Fig. 1), differing from C. arctostaphyli by the production of shorter asci (10–16 × 10–15 μm vs 14–18.5 × 11.5–16 μm in C. arctostaphyli), ascospores with a typical subapical germ pore (terminal in C. arctostaphyli), and the production of a yellowish soluble pigment on MEA (not reported for C. arctostaphyli) (Wang et al. 2019a). Oidiosporium Sastoque, Cano & Stchigel, gen. nov. MycoBank MB 850913. Etymology: From Latin ovum-, egg, -idium-, a diminutive suffix, and -sporium, spore, because the fungus produces thallic conidia similar to those of the order Erysiphales (= oidia). Type species: Oidiosporium botulisporum Sastoque, Cano & Stchigel Mycelium abundant, composed of hyaline to brown or reddish-brown, septate, branched, smoothand thinto moderately thick-walled hyphae when pigmented, often coiled. Conidiophores absent. Conidia holothallic, aseptate, hyaline or brown to reddish-brown, smoothand thin-walled to moderately thick-walled, guttulate, subglobose, ellipsoidal, broadly fusiform, barrel-shaped or sausage-shaped, flattened at both ends but without visible scars, formed by remodelling of pre-existing hyphae sections, secession schizolytic, produced in short to long chains. Oidiosporium botulisporum Sastoque Cano & Stchigel, sp. nov. MycoBank MB 847921. Fig. 5. Etymology: From Latin botulus-, sausage, and -spora, spore, because the shape of the thallic conidia. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), isolated from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-24247, culture ex-type FMR 18828 = CBS 149964). On oatmeal agar after 4 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium abundant, composed of hyaline to brown or reddish-brown, septate, branched, smoothand thinto moderately thick-walled hyphae when pigmented, 1–4.5 μm wide, often coiled (Fig. 5F). Conidiophores absent. Conidia holothallic, aseptate, hyaline or brown to reddish-brown, smoothand thin-walled Fig. 4. Carteria canariensis CBS 149955. A–D. Colony on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (4-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E, F. Non-ostiolate ascomata. G. Peridium with textura epidermoidea. H. Asci and ascospores. I. Young and mature ascospores with a subapical germ pore (black arrows). Scale bars: E–G = 25 μm; H, I = 10 μm. Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 101 Table 1. Geographical origin and source of the fungal strains, and the accession numbers of the loci used for building the phylogenetic trees. The nucleotide sequences generated during the development of this work are in bold. New species and combinations are indicated in bold. Taxon Strains1Geographic origin Source GenBank accession numbers Reference ITS LSU rpb2tub2tef Achaetomium aegilopsis IRAN 3453CTIran Seed of Aegilops triuncialis NR_172742 MT568844 — MT568852 — Mehrabi et al. (2020) FMR 19009 Spain Soil of Teneguía volcano OZ016249 OZ016250 OZ016283 OZ016284 — This study FMR 18802 Spain Soil of San Antonio volcano OZ016251 OZ016252 OZ016285 OZ016286 — This study Achaetomium globosum CBS 332.67TIndia Tamarindus indica, rhizosphere NR_157458 MH870682 KM655441 KX976911 — Wang et al. (2016a) Achaetomium luteum CBS 544.83 Pakistan Rosa sp., stem KX976572 KX976697 KX976795 KX976913 — Wang et al. (2016a) Achaetomium macrosporum CBS 152.97 India Leaf litter KX976573 KX976698 KX976796 KX976914 — Wang et al. (2016a) Achaetomium strumarium CBS 333.67TIndia Soil NR_144811 NG_056954 KC503254 AY681238 — Cai et al. (2006) Arxotrichum deceptivum CBS 346.73TUSA Dung of pack rat MK919276 MK919276 MK919332 MK919390 — Wang et al. 2022) Arxotrichum gangligerum CBS 130.85 Canada Dung of rabbit MK919278 MK919278 MK919334 MK919392 — Wang et al. 2022) CBS 160.52TUSA Wood sample MH856977 MH868498 MK919333 MK919391 — Wang et al. 2022) Botryotrichum atrogriseum CBS 130.28TThe Netherlands Dung of rabbit NR_147666 KX976714 KX976813 KX976931 — Wang et al. (2016a) Botryotrichum murorum CBS 163.52 USA Unknown KX976591 KX976716 KX976815 KX976933 — Wang et al. (2016a) Botryotrichum peruvianum CBS 421.93 Cuba Air KX976596 KX976721 KX976820 KX976938 — Wang et al. (2016a) Botryotrichum piluliferum CBS 105.14 Unknown Unknown KX976598 KX976723 KX976822 KX976940 — Wang et al. (2016a) Botryotrichum pseudomurorum CBS 149965T (FMR 19917) Spain Soil of Fuencaliente lighthouse OZ001674 OZ001675 OZ001714 OZ00171 — This study Botryotrichum spirotrichum CBS 211.55TUSA Dung of deer NR_147667 NG_067362 KX976825 KX976943 — Wang et al. (2016a) Botryotrichum verrucosum CBS 116.64TUK Salt-marsh soil, mature dunes NR_168165 LT993567 LT993486 LT993648 — Wang et al. (2019b) Canariomyces arenarius CBS 507.74TEgypt Desert soil NR_103575 KM655383 KM655438 MK926898 MN078433 Wang et al. (2019a) FMR 18787 Spain Soil of Teneguía volcano OZ016253 OZ016254 OZ016287 OZ016288 OZ016289 This study FMR 19065 Spain Soil of Teneguía volcano OZ016255 OZ016256 OZ016290 OZ016291 OZ016292 This study FMR 18817 Spain Soil of Fuencaliente lighthouse OZ016257 OZ016258 OZ016293 OZ016294 OZ016295 This study Canariomyces asexualis CBS 149966T (FMR 19389) Spain Soil of Teneguía volcano OZ001676 OZ001677 OZ001716 OZ001717 OZ001718 This study Canariomyces microsporus CBS 276.74TEgypt Desert soil NR_165201 NG_067407 MK876760 JN709484 MN078437 Wang et al. (2019a) CBS 161.80 Japan Thymus sp., leaf MK926800 MK926800 MK876761 MK926900 — Wang et al. (2019a) Canariomyces notabilis CBS 548.83TSpain Phoenix canariensis, litter NR_165232 NG_069797 MK876763 MK926902 MN078432 Wang et al. (2019a) CBS 508.74 Egypt Desert soil MK926803 KM655384 KM655439 MK926903 MN078431 Wang et al. (2019a) Persoonia – Volume 54, 2025108 secession rhexolytic (Fig. 8E). Acremonium-like synasexual morph present; conidiophores reduced to a conidiogenous cell; conidiogenous cell phialidic, arising on (discrete) or integrated to (adelophialides) the hyphae, hyaline, simple or 1-branched, flask-shaped (monophialides) or v-shaped (polyphialides) (Fig. 8F), 3–12 × 1–3 µm, mostly ventricose at the base and with a long neck that tapers progressively towards the apex; conidia enteroblastic, hyaline, formed basipetally in chains, unicellular, obovoid, 2–4 × 1–2 µm, truncated at the base and rounded at the apex (Fig. 8F). Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 28–30 mm diam., flat and circular; margins entire and regular, brown (5F3) at the centre with radiated stripes showing sparse white (5A1) aerial mycelium at the centre; soluble pigment absent; reverse greyish brown (5E3) at the centre, with radiated dark brown (5F3) stripes and margins uncoloured. Colonies on OA 32–33 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margins filamentous and regular; surface uncoloured, with a floccose white (4A1) aerial mycelium at the centre; soluble pigment absent; reverse uncoloured, cream (4B3) at the centre. Colonies on CMA 25–27 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margins entire and regular; surface sepia (4F4), with a scarce white (5A1) floccose mycelium at the centre, and greyish green (30E5) superficial spots, margins uncoloured; soluble pigment absent; reverse dark green (30F5) at the centre. Colonies on MEA 27–28 mm diam., flat and circular; margins entire and regular; surface dark brown (5E4) with a white (5A1) floccose mycelium at the centre, and margins cream (4B3); soluble pigment absent; reverse similar than the surface. Culture iconography after 2 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 8A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 5 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C, respectively. Notes: Humicola lutea CBS 460.76 was placed in the same fully supported clade as P. lutea COAD 3127, being consequently transferred to the genus Pseudohumicola as P. debertoldii (Fig. 1). Pseudohumicola debertoldii differs from P. lutea by the production of unicellular, rarely 1-septate conidia, smoothand thin-walled at first, becoming verruculose and thick-wall with the age, with intercalary (holothallic) conidia, (4–)7–11(–13) × (4–)7–12(–13) µm and the production of an acremonium-like synasexual morph, in contrast to P. lutea, which produces lateral and terminal, single-cell, thickbut smooth-walled conidia, (7.5–)10.8–11.8(–14.5) × (7.2–)10.4– 11.2(–12) μm and lacking an acremonium-like synasexual morph (Oliveira et al. 2023). Pseudohumicola glauca (De Bert.) Sastoque, Stchigel & Cano, comb. nov. MycoBank MB 853458. Fig. 9. Basionym: Humicola glauca De Bert., Canad. J. Bot. 54: 2757. 1976. Typus: Italy, nematode-infested soil, 1970, coll. and isol. M. de Bertoldi (lectotype designated here CBS H-7238, MBT 10026348, culture ex-type CBS 462.76 = MUCL 19429 = FMR 19938). On potato carrot agar after 2 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium composed of hyaline, septate, branched, smoothand thin-walled, 1–2 μm wide hyphae. Conidiophores absent. Conidiogenous cells integrated to the hyphae. Conidia holoblastic, unicellular, solitary, sessile or on short conical denticles or on short side branches (Fig. 9E), less frequently in short chains or forming few-celled clusters (Fig. 9F), or intercalary (holothallic; Fig. 9F), smoothand thick-walled, covered by a mucilaginous and dark brown substance, becoming verrucose to reticulate when old, pale olivaceous brown to brown, globose, Fig. 8. Pseudohumicola debertoldii CBS 460.76. A–D. Colony on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (2-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E. Brown, holoblastic, sessile or on short denticles (DIC). F. Monoand poly-phialides (black arrow) and conidia in chains (PC). Scale bars = 10 μm. Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 109 subglobose, oblate, ellipsoid, obovoid, piriform, occasionally ovoid or cylindric, (4–)7–8(–9) × (4–)8–10(–15) μm (Fig. 9E, F). Acremonium-like synasexual morph and sexual morph not observed. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 30–31 mm diam., flat and circular; margins filamentous and regular; surface chocolate (6F4) at the centre, with a white (6A1) aerial mycelium, margins yellowish white (4A2); soluble pigment absent; reverse dark brown (6F2) at the centre, surrounded by a chocolate (6F4) halo, margins yellowish-white (4A2). Colonies on OA 37–39 mm diam., flat and circular and expansive; margins filamentous and regular; surface dark brown (5F8), with a floccose white (4B1) aerial mycelium at the centre, margins cream (4B3); soluble pigment absent; reverse dark brown (5F8) at the centre, marble-white (5B2) at the margins. Colonies on CMA 31–34 mm diam., flat and circular; margins filamentous and regular; surface dark brown (5F5) at the centre, with a scarce white (5A1) aerial mycelium, margins yellowish white (4A2) to uncoloured; soluble pigment absent; reverse similar in colour than the surface. Colonies on MEA 35–36 mm diam., flat and circular; margins filamentous and regular; surface brown (5E5) with a floccose white (8A1) aerial mycelium at the centre, margins yellowish white (4A2); reverse cream (4A3) but brown (5E4) at the centre. Culture iconography after 2 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 9A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 15 °C, 30 °C and 37 °C, respectively. Additional material examined: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), isolated from Teneguía volcano soil, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (culture FMR 18982 = CBS 150904). Notes: Humicola glauca CBS 462.76 was placed close to P. semispiralis CBS 723.97 (Fig. 1), and consequently transferred to the genus Pseudohumicola. Pseudohumicola glauca differs from Pseudohumicola semispiralis by lacking a sexual morph and by the size and shape of conidia [globose, subglobose, oblate, ellipsoid, obovoid, piriform, occasionally ovoid or cylindric, (4–)7–8(–9) × (4–)8–10(–15) μm in P. glauca vs globose to oblate, sometimes ovoid, (8.5–)9–11 μm diam. in P. semispiralis] (Udagawa & Cain 1969, Wang et al. 2019b). Pseudohumicola intercalarispora Sastoque, Stchigel & Cano, sp. nov. MycoBank MB 847821. Fig. 10. Etymology: From Latin intercalaris-, intercalary, and -spora, spore, due to the presence of holothallic intercalary conidia. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-25245, culture ex-type FMR 19235 = CBS 149962). On potato carrot agar after 2 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium composed of hyaline, septate, branched, smoothand thin-walled, 1–2.5 μm wide hyphae, often forming spirals (Fig. 10E). Conidiophores undifferentiated. Conidiogenous cells integrated to the vegetative hypha. Conidia mostly holoblastic and 1-celled, solitary or less frequently in chains of two, sessile, on short conical denticles or on short side branches from the hyphae (Fig. 10E,F), smoothand thickwalled, covered by mucilaginous and dark brown substance, becoming verrucose to reticulate when old (Fig. 10F), sometimes intercalary (holothallic) (Fig. 10F), then 1-celled, pale olivaceous brown to brown with dark brown walls, Fig. 9. Pseudohumicola glauca CBS 462.76. A–D. Colonies on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (2-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E. Conidia single cell, aseptate, sessile or on short denticles (DIC). F. Conidia solitary or on short chains (PC). Scale bars = 10 μm. Persoonia – Volume 54, 2025110 globose, subglobose, obovoid, pyriform, less frequently ovoid, obpyriform or ellipsoidal, (4–)7–9(–10) × (4–)7–10(– 11) μm (Fig. 10E, F). Acremonium-like synasexual morph and sexual morph not observed. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 20–30 mm diam., circular and flat; margin filamentous, regular to lobulated; surface showing white (6A1) aerial mycelium in the central area, surrounded by a brownish-grey (6F2) circle and with yellowish-white (4A2) narrow or wide margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse brownish-grey (6F2) to brown (6E5) with yellowish-white margins (4A2). Colonies on OA 29–33 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin filamentous and regular; surface with scarce and floccose grey (6E1) aerial hyphae only in the centre, bottom brownish grey (5F2) and margins bronze (5E5) without aerial hyphae; soluble pigment absent; reverse greyish brown (5F3) and margins hair brown (5E4). Colonies on CMA 22–23 mm diam., circular and flat; margin filamentous and regular; surface chocolate (6F4) with floccose greyish white (6B1) aerial hyphae in the central area, around and margins brown (5F6); soluble pigment absent; reverse chocolate (6F4) in the centre and wide tobacco (5F6) margins. Colonies on MEA 28–30 mm diam. after 7 d at 25 °C; flat and circular; margin entire and regular; surface brownish orange (6C3) with white (6A1) aerial hyphae in the centre, sand (4B3) and with yellowishwhite (4A2) margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse pale orange (6A3) in the centre, surrounded by greyish-orange (5B3) and margins orange-white (5A2). Culture iconography after 2 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 10A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 12 °C, 30 °C and 37 °C, respectively. Notes: Pseudohumicola intercalarispora was placed as a distinct species in a basal branch of a well-supported clade (1 PP/99 % BS) including Pseudohumicola alba COAD 3126 (Fig. 1). Pseudohumicola intercalarispora differs from P. alba by the presence of abundant intercalary conidia (absent in P. alba) and by the absence of an phialidic synasexual morph (present in P. alba) as well as the shape and size of humicolalike conidia [globose, subglobose, obovoid, pyriform, less frequently ovoid, obpyriform or ellipsoidal, (4–)7–9(–10) × (4–)7–10(–11) μm in P. intercalarispora and globose to subglobose or obovoid, with a truncated base, (8.3–)9.6–10.4(– 12.6) × (7.0–)8.8–9.6(–10.4) μm in P. alba] (Oliveira et al. 2023). Pseudohumicola variispora Sastoque, Cano & Stchigel, sp. nov. MycoBank MB 847751. Fig. 11. Etymology: From Latin variis-, diverse, and -spora, spore, due to the morphological variability of the conidia. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), isolated from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-25244, culture ex-type FMR 18822 = CBS 149960). On potato carrot agar after 4 wk at 25 °C: Mycelium abundant, composed of hyaline, septate, branched, smoothand thin-walled, 0.5–3 μm wide hyphae. Conidiophores undifferentiated. Conidiogenous cells integrated to the vegetative hypha. Conidia mostly holoblastic and 1-celled, solitary, sessile, on short conical denticles or on short side branches from the hyphae (Fig. 11E), smoothand thickFig. 10. Pseudohumicola intercalarispora CBS 149962. A–D. Colonies on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (2-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E. Hypha forming spirals. F. Conidia sessile or on short denticles or intercalary, and sometimes covered by dark brown mucilaginous substance (black arrow). Scale bars = 10 μm. Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 111 walled, covered by mucilaginous and dark brown sheath, becoming verruculose when old (Fig. 11E, J), rarely 2−3-celled, sometimes generating secondary conidia to form short chains (2−3-celled) (Fig. 11E–H), occasionally intercalary (holothallic), then 1−2-celled (Fig. 11I), brown, globose, subglobose, oblate, ellipsoid, obovoid, piriform, occasionally ovoid or cylindric, (3–)7–8(–9) × (4–)7–10(–15) μm, mostly truncated at the base or at both ends (when intercalary), secession rhexolytic (Fig. 11E–J). Acremoniumlike synasexual morph and sexual morph not observed. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colonies on PCA 9–12 mm diam., circular and flat; margin lobulated to irregular; surface showing white (4A1) aerial mycelium in the central area, surrounded by a black (4F1) superficial area and with cream (4B3) margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse black (4F2) to smoke brown (4F1) with yellowish white margins (4A2). Colonies on OA 28–30 mm diam., flat, circular and expansive; margin entire and regular; surface dry, opaque, with floccose white (6A1) aerial hyphae only in the central area, margins cream (4A3) without aerial hyphae and chocolate (6F4) short, radiated lines at the bottom; soluble pigment absent; reverse yellowish brown (5F8) in the centre with short radiated lines and margins yellowishwhite (3A2). Colonies on CMA 11–14 mm diam., circular and flat; margin entire and regular; surface canary yellow (2B7) with scarce greyish white (4B1) aerial hyphae in the centre, margins uncoloured; soluble pigment absent; reverse greyish yellow (2B5). Colonies on MEA 17–18 mm diam., flat and circular; margin filamentous and undulated; surface light yellow (3A5) in the centre to cream (4A3) without aerial hyphae; soluble pigment absent; reverse butter-yellow (4A5) in the centre and margins cream (4A3). Culture iconography after 2 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 11A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 12 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C, respectively. Notes: Pseudohumicola variispora was placed in a fully supported clade close to P. lutea COAD 3127 and P. debertoldii CBS 460.76, but as a different species in a basal branch (Fig. 1). Pseudohumicola variispora differs from P. lutea by presence of 2−3-celled sessile conidia and 1−2-celled intercalary conidia, and by the formation of thick-walled verrucose conidia in P. variispora, while P. lutea does not produce intercalary conidia, the conidia are Fig. 11. Pseudohumicola variispora CBS 149960. A–D. Colonies on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (2-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E–G. Conidia 1–2-celled, septate (black arrow) and forming secondary conidia. H. Conidia in short chains. I. Intercalary conidia. J. Conidia covered by mucilaginous, dark brown sheath. Scale bars = 10 μm. Persoonia – Volume 54, 2025112 unicellular and thick but smooth-walled (Oliveira et al. 2023). Pseudohumicola variispora differs from P. debertoldii in having lateral, terminal and intercalary 2−3-celled conidia covered by mucilaginous and dark brown sheath, and sometimes produces secondary conidia to form short chains (2−3-celled) and does not present an acremonium-like asexual morph. Steirochaetomium Sastoque, Stchigel & Cano, gen. nov. MycoBank MB 849839. Etymology: From Greek στείρος- (steíros-), sterile, because the fungus does not produce fertile structures. Type species: Steirochaetomium canariensis Sastoque, Stchigel & Cano Mycelium mostly aerial, abundant, composed of septate, branching, smoothand thin-walled, hyaline and pigmented hyphae. Chlamydospores, hyaline, vacuolated, smoothand slightly thick-walled, globose, subglobose or barrel-shaped, in chains. Sexual morph not observed. Steirochaetomium canariensis Sastoque, Stchigel & Cano sp. nov. MycoBank MB 849840. Fig. 12. Etymology: canariensis, from Canary Islands (Spain), due to the geographic origin of the fungus. Typus: Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), isolated from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (holotype CBS H-25347, culture ex-type FMR 19096 = CBS 150903). On oatmeal agar after 3 mo at 25 °C: Mycelium mostly aerial, abundant, composed of septate, branching, smoothand thin-walled, hyaline to brown hyphae, 1–2 μm wide. Chlamydospores, hyaline, smoothand slightly thick-walled, globose, subglobose or barrel-shaped, 11–19 × 7–13 μm, in chains, with several big lipid vacuoles (Fig. 12E, F). Sexual morph not observed. Culture characteristics (after 7 d at 25 °C): Colony on PCA 28–29 mm diam., flat and circular; margin filamentous and regular; surface uncoloured with white (4A1) floccose aerial hyphae, sparse on the margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse uncoloured to white (4A1). Colonies on OA 25–27 mm diam., flat, circular, and expansive; margin filamentous and regular; surface greyish yellow (4B3) coloured with white (4A1) sparse aerial mycelium around and at the centre; soluble pigment absent; reverse uncoloured to greyish yellow (4B3). Colonies on CMA 31–32 mm diam., flat and circular; margin filamentous and regular; surface uncoloured with floccose white (4A1) aerial hyphae around at the centre; soluble pigment absent; reverse yellowish white (4A2). Colonies on MEA 40–41 mm diam., flat and circular; margin filamentous and regular; surface greyish yellow (4B3), with white (4A1) floccose aerial mycelium, sparse on the margins; soluble pigment absent; reverse greyish yellow (4B3). Culture iconography after 5 wk of incubation on PCA, OA, CMA and MEA (Fig. 12A–D, respectively). Minimum, optimum and maximum temperature of growth on PDA after 7 d: 15 °C, 30–37 °C and 45 °C, respectively. Additional specimens examined. Spain, Canary Islands, La Palma, Fuencaliente (Los Canarios), from soil of Teneguía volcano, 15 Jul. 2008, coll. M. Calduch & A.M. Stchigel, isol. A.P. Sastoque (culture FMR 18932). Notes: Steirochaetomium canariensis was located as a monospecific fully supported linage related but different to the Chaetomium clade (Fig. 1). Steirochaetomium Fig. 12. Steirochaetomium canariensis CBS 150903. A–D. Colonies on PCA, OA, CMA, MEA (5-wk-old; 25 °C; surface, left; reverse, right). E, F. Chlamydospores with several lipid vacuoles, forming chains. Scale bars = 10 μm. Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 113 canariensis does not produce fertile structures. However, it forms big chlamydospores with several big lipid vacuoles, which have not been observed in Arxotrichum, Corynascus, Chaetomium and Parachaetomium. Moreover, it is easily molecularly distinguishable from the other genera of the family Chaetomiaceae (Wang et al. 2016a, 2019a, b, 2022). Based on a BLAST search of the NCBI’s GenBank nucleotide database, the closest match using the rpb2 sequence was Parachaetomium mareoticum [CBS 781.71, GenBank MZ342993; Identities = 598/688 (86.92 %), four gaps (0 %)]. Lastly, using the tub2 sequence, the closest match was Parachaetomium biporatum [CBS 244.86, GenBank MK919417; identities = 427/521 (81.96 %), 23 gaps (4 %)]. DISCUSSION The family Chaetomiaceae, established by Winter (1885) to place Chaetomium (Kunze & Schmidt 1817) as its type genus, comprises fungal taxa characterized by the production of superficial, ostiolate (perithecial) or non-ostiolate (cleistothecial) ascomata with a membranaceous ascomatal wall (peridium), usually covered with flexuous, undulate or coiled, verrucose or smooth hairs or setae, clavate, fusiform, cylindrical, or globose asci with or without stalks, but in all cases unitunicate and soon evanescent, lacking of apical structures, 4–8-spored, with no paraphysis within mature ascomata, and unicellular, brown to black, opaque or slightly translucent, smooth-walled, globose, ellipsoidal, lemonshaped, quadrangular, fusiform or triangular ascospores with one or two germ pores, discharged across the ostiole as a dark cylindrical mass (cirrus) (von Arx et al. 1984, 1986, Mehrabi et al. 2020, Wang et al. 2022). In addition, some members of the family produce asexual morphs, consisting of conidia arising directly on the vegetative hyphae (holoblastic sessile conidia), on denticulate conidiogenous cells, or on more differentiated, hyaline or pigmented, branched or unbranched conidiophores (macronematous) with terminal or intercalary, monoblastic, sympodially polyblastic, phialidic or annellidic conidiogenous cells producing solitary, thinor thick-walled, hyaline or pigmented, smooth to slightly roughened conidia, rarely produced in chains (Wang et al. 2016a, 2019b). Members of the Chaetomiaceae have been isolated worldwide as saprobes on various substrates, including dung, seeds, paper, plants, straw, debris, soil (from desert, garden, dry pastures, crop fields, among others), compost, air and wood, as well as mycoparasites and human pathogens (Zhang et al. 2006, Violi et al. 2007, Marin-Felix et al. 2015, Ahmed et al. 2016, Wang et al. 2016a, b, 2022, Mehrabi et al. 2020, https://wi.knaw.nl/fungal_table, accessed on 4 February 2024), but few of them has been reported for Gran Canaria, such as Canariomyces notabilis, which was isolated from Phoenix canariensis (von Arx 1984, Cannon 1986, https://wi.knaw.nl/fungal_table, accessed on 4 February 2024). Several members are thermophilic (with an optimum temperature of growth between 40 and 50 °C, and a minimum temperature of growth above 20 °C) or thermotolerant (minimum temperature of growth below 20 °C and optimal growing starting from 35 °C) (Tansey & Jack 1975, Ellis 1981, Stchigel et al. 2000, de Oliveira et al. 2015, van den Brink et al. 2015, de Oliveira & Rodrigues 2019, Wang et al. 2022), i.e. species belonging to the genera Achaetomium, Amesia, Humicola, Melanocarpus, Mycothermus, Parachaetomium, Remersonia, Subramaniula, Thermocarpiscus, Thermocarpusella, Thermochaetoides, Thermothelomyces, Thermothielavioides, and Trichocladium. This thermophilic/ thermotolerant trait does not seem to be directly associated with the source of isolation, as most species have been isolated from common substrates where environmental conditions are favourable for their development (Dahiya et al. 2019, de Oliveira & Rodrigues 2019, Hutchinson et al. 2019). Historically, the delimitation of genera and species belonging to the Chaetomiaceae was primarily based on the morphological traits of the sexual morph, as previously mentioned. However, it has become apparent over time that such morphological and developmental features are insufficient for this taxonomic task (Lee & Hanlin 1999, Asgari & Zare 2011). Recent studies on the family, employing a combination of ecological, molecular, and phenotypic traits, resulted in the allocation of all known fungal taxa into fifty genera so far (Wang et al. 2016a, 2019a, b, 2022). These studies challenge some of the morphological criteria previously used to distinguish genera within this family. For example, the presence or absence of ascomatal ostioles, as even within the same genus, both characters may be observed, as in Botryotrichum (Wang et al. 2016a). In the present study, morphological characterization and a multilocus phylogenetic analysis based on ITS-LSU-rpb2-tub2 nucleotide sequences allowed us to identify strains belonging to the Chaetomiaceae not previously reported for volcanic soils. These include Achaetomium aegilopsis, Canariomyces arenarius, Carteria arctostaphyli, Pseudohumicola alba, Pseudohumicola glauca, Parathielavia kuwaitensis, and Ovatospora senegalensis (Ames 1963, Mouchacca 1973, de Bertoldi 1976, Moustafa 1976, Asgari & Zare 2011, Wang et al. 2016a, 2019a, Oliveira et al. 2023, https://wi.knaw.nl/ fungal_table, accessed on 4 March 2024), Additionally, this analysis led to the proposal of three new genera and nine new species for the science. Botryotrichum piluliferum, designated as type species of that genus by Saccardo & Marchal (1885), is characterized by the production of perithecial ascomata with unbranched ascomatal hairs circinate at the end and mostly disposed around the ostiole, and of ellipsoid ascospores as well as of hyaline globose sessile conidia on loosely branched hyphae and on acrogenous prostrate branches (Saccardo & Marchal 1885, Daniels 1961, Alidadi et al. 2020). Currently, the genus comprises twenty-four species (www.indexfungorum.org/ accessed on 4 March 2024). Botryotrichum pseudomurorum is characterized by producing smoke grey to olivaceous grey ostiolate ascomata, verrucose terminal hairs, a yellowish soluble pigment on MEA, and growing up to 35 °C (Fig. 2). The genus Canariomyces was introduced by von Arx (1984), with C. notabilis as the type species. This genus was placed within the Chaetomiaceae based on tub2 and tef nucleotide sequences analysis (von Arx 1984, Wang et al. 2019a). Canariomyces currently comprises six species (https://www.indexfungorum.org/, accessed on 4 March 2024), isolated from various sources including soils (mostly from desertic areas), plants and human tissue (https:// wi.knaw.nl/fungal_table, accessed on 4 March 2024). This genus produces both sexual and asexual morphs. The sexual morph is characterized by the production of dark brown, opaque, non-ostiolate, globose or subglobose, ascomata Persoonia – Volume 54, 2025114 often covered by subhyaline to brown hyphae, with textura angularis, or a transition to textura epidermoidea (authors’ note), in surface view, the asci are obovoid, ellipsoidal, or subglobose, usually without visible stalks, soon evanescent, containing eight irregularly arranged, unicellular, dark brown when mature, ellipsoidal ascospores, with attenuated ends and a subapical or apical germ pore. The asexual morph consists of conidiogenous cells reduced to a hyphal cell, monoblastic, laterally producing conidia (sessile conidia; aleuroconidia), mostly solitary, subhyaline to dark brown, obovoid, pyriform or clavate, with a basal flattened scar (Wang et al. 2019a). Canariomyces asexualis (Fig. 3) forms smaller aleurioconidia than those of Can. microsporus (Wang et al. 2019a, https://wi.knaw.nl/fungal_table, accessed on 4 March 2024), displaying a variety of shapes including heart-shaped ones (Wang et al. 2022). Furthermore, the type species of this genus, Can. notabilis, was isolated from Gran Canaria Island on litter of Phoenix canariensis (von Arx 1984), Can. asexualis then being the second species reported for the Canary Islands. Carteria is a monospecific genus within the Chaetomiaceae, established to accommodate a fungal strain (CBS 229.82) isolated from the shrub Arctostaphylos uvaursi in Parsenn (Switzerland), and erroneously assigned to Thielavia basicola (Wang et al. 2019a). Carteria canariensis (Fig. 4) is characterized by the production of ascomata and asci smaller than those of C. arctostaphyli, and by the production of a yellowish soluble pigment on MEA. In our multilocus phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1), this genus was located in a fully-supported linage together with Thermocarpiscus australiensis (formerly Thielavia australiensis; Wang et al. 2022)) and two new monospecific genera, Oidiosporium and Phaeophyphomyces, with Oid. botulisporum and Phaeoh. canariensis as their respective type species. Oidiosporum botulisporum (Fig. 5) is characterized by the production of chains of holothallic conidia by remodeling of sections of preexisting hyphae, detaching from the hyphae by schizolytic secession. Then, Oid. botulisporum resembles Mycothermus thermophilus and Batnamyces globulariicola, but these also form intercalary, lateral or terminal chlamydospores (Tansey & Jack 1975, Wang et al. 2019b, 2022, Noumeur et al. 2020). On the other hand, Phaeoh. canariensis (Fig. 6) is a sterile fungus, being placed as an unequivocally new genus and species within the Chaetomiaceae based on the results of our phylogenetic analysis. Pseudohumicola was stablished as a genus to accommodate some species of Humicola forming a separate linage, and currently contains seven species (Alves et al. 2022, Wang et al. 2022, Oliveira et al. 2023). Pseudohumicola spp. have been isolated from soil, dust, dung, air, cave sediment, filter paper, litter and leaves (Alves et al. 2022, Wang et al. 2022, Oliveira et al. 2023, https://wi.knaw.nl/fungal_table, accessed on 4 March 2024). In our study, three new species of that genus were identified, all of them producing a humicolalike asexual morph, being isolated from soils surrounding the Teneguía volcano. Pseudohumicola cinnamobrunnea (FMR 18980; Fig. 7), P. intercalispora (FMR 19235; Fig. 10) and P. variispora (FMR 18822; Fig. 11) can be differentiated from the other species of the genus by the size and shape of the conidia, by the absence of an acremonium-like synasexual morph, and lacking a sexual morph. Notably, P. variispora (Fig. 9) produces 2–3-celled conidia, surrounded by a thick verrucose sheath when old. These three new species are thermotolerant, growing between 12 °C and 45 °C, but with an optimal temperature of growth at 37 °C. Additionally, two species of Humicola described by de Bertoldi (1976), but considered as doubtful for that genus (de Bertoldi 1976, Wang et al. 2022, Oliveira et al. 2023), were transferred to the genus Pseudohumicola based on our multilocus phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1), and renamed as Pseudohumicola debertoldii (formerly Humicola lutea; CBS 460.76; Fig. 8) and Pseudohumicola glauca (formerly Humicola glauca; CBS 462.76; Fig. 9). The first species could not be renamed with its previous specific name because it was previously used to name other new species of Pseudohumicola (Oliveira et al. 2023). Furthermore, the new monospecific genus Steirochaetomium (Fig. 12) was established based on the results of our phylogenetic analysis (Fig 1), where it forms a fully supported basal branch within a terminal clade that includes the genera Parachaetomium, Arxotrichum, Corynascus, and Chaetomium. Steirochaetomium canariensis is mainly characterized by the production of large, globose, hyaline chlamydospores arranged in chains, the absence of fertile structures, and its high thermotolerance (growing up to 45 °C), and with an optimal temperature of growth between 30 and 37 °C. Although the presence of chlamydospores has been reported in species of the genera Aporothielavia, Batnamyces, Mycothermus, Trichocladium, and Subramaniula, these chlamydospores are typically pigmented and smaller than those observed in St. canariensis (Wang et al. 2019a, 2022, Noumeur et al. 2020). These findings indicate that despite the predominantly volcanic and low-fertility soils in the southern region of La Palma, there is a significant presence of members of the family Chaetomiaceae. Furthermore, the thermophilic profiles observed in some of these species suggest that, in addition to geomorphology, the island’s climate, topography, vegetation, and fauna diversity also play a crucial role in the development and distribution of these micromycetes. CONCLUSIONS The application of diverse isolation techniques allowed us to recover multiple taxa of the family Chaetomiaceae from volcanic soils collected near Fuencaliente village on La Palma Island (Canary Archipelago, Spain), with a particular focus on areas surrounding the Teneguía volcano. Using a polyphasic approach for fungal identification, we report not only the discovery of seven Chaetomiaceae species previously unreported in volcanic soils (Achaetomium aegilopsis, Canariomyces arenarius, Carteria arctostaphyli, Ovatospora senegalensis, Parathielavia kuwaitensis, Pseudohumicola alba, and Pseudohumicola glauca), but also the identification of three new genera (Oidiosporium, Phaeohyphomyces, and Steirochaetomium) and nine new species (Botryotrichum pseudomurorum, Canariomyces asexualis, Carteria canariensis, Oidiosporium botulisporum, Phaeophyphomyces canariensis, Pseudohumicola cinnamobrunnea, Pseudohumicola intercalispora, Pseudohumicola variispopra, and Steirochaetomium canariensis). Additionally, Humicola glauca and Humicola lutea were reclassified in the genus Pseudohumicola. Regarding growth temperatures, while most strains were isolated at Sastoque et al.: Soil ascomycetes from Spain. XIV. 115 25 °C, some exhibited thermotolerance (e.g., Can. asexualis and St. canariensis), whereas others were limited to growth up to 37 °C (e.g., Oid. botulisporum, P. cinnamobrunnea, P. intercalarispora, and P. variispora). Notably, Botryotrichum pseudomurorum and Can. asexualis demonstrated a broad temperature range for growth, from 5 °C to 35/40 °C, respectively. In conclusion, these findings highlight volcanic soils as an underexplored source of taxonomically significant micromycetes, particularly within the Chaetomiaceae. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to Misericordia Calduch Estrem for her help in collecting the soil samples, and to Konstanze Bensch for her collaboration in the correction and useful suggestions regarding the nomenclature of the scientific names for the new fungal taxa. This research was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y competitividad, grant CGL2017-88094-P, and by the student grant FI SDUR CGL2017-88094-P. 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