While looking around for a paper in conservation biology, I stumbled upon this study about the coral associated marine fungi. I was very interested, may it be that #fungi can ride the popularity of #coral in some #research line?
Could that even mean... I'll find a job one day?
Keypoints for the layman:
we didn't know many of the species (as it is often the case for fungi, especially marine ones)
Many overlap with the ones found in sponges
Only a few, like 11 species (or OTUs) are likely to be really associate in a symbiosis
What do they do there? No fucking clue.
#Fungi in general are very under-studied, aquatic even less, #marine are at the bottom.
We found fungi in every possible habitat on the Earth, so yeah, I'd bet they are not scarce underwater.
Most chytridiomycota (a major taxon) are aquatic and parasitic, but sweet water mainly.
There is a website that collects resources about marine fungi:
I'm no expert on this, I study terrestrial fungi and still just as a master student, but if you have some curiosity feel free to ask, worst case we can laugh at our common ignorance =D
@arteteco Sincerely thanks for the grounding answers! I find fungi really interesting so I'll enjoy that site for sure. :)
@arteteco I would love to know more generally about aquatic fungi, it seems pike they get nearly no attention but it would make no sense for them to be scarce underwater?