A check-list of fungi from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Abstract

Andaman and Nicobar Islands constitute isolated group of five hundred and seventy-two islands with most of them human un-inhabited having rich flora and fauna. A check-list of fungi reported from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been compiled based on the information available in the literature and is provided in a table. Totally 446 fungal species, distributed over 216 genera, 96 families, 44 orders, ten classes and seven phyla have been reported so far. Meliola is the most speciose genus and the family Meliolaceae has been represented with a large number of species. Among the different order Ostropales has been represented with a large number of species than others. In the case of different classes Sordariomycetes has more representation and the Ascomycota among different phyla. There are only a few reports available on the research carried out from the Islands and these are mostly on lichenized fungi and Meliolales in addition to a single report on 63 marine fungi from mangroves of the Islands through one collection. This reflects on the specialists who have contributed research work from the Islands. As otherwise the Islands have largely remained unexplored for fungal diversity.