About us

Aquatic fungi are a polyphyletic group connected by their ecology (growing and reproducing mainly in marine or freshwaters) rather than taxonomy. They belong mainly to the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Microsporidia, but include representatives of 14 phyla. There are more than 6,114 species of described aquatic fungi (4,073 from freshwater - www.freshwaterfungi.org - and 2,041 from marine ecosystems - www.marinefungi.org). However, this represents only ~3% of all estimated freshwater fungal species, with a probable similar or even greater gap in knowledge for marine fungi. Our limited knowledge of aquatic fungi diversity, distributions, and threats currently impedes aquatic fungi conservation. The key threats to biodiversity in aquatic environments are habitat decline, pollution, eutrophication, invasive species, ocean acidification, freshwater salinisation, river regulation, and climate change. These are also likely to be threats to aquatic fungi, but few researchers are working on the ecology and potential conservation issues of aquatic fungi. As a consequence, no aquatic fungus (unlike terrestrial fungi) has had a conservation assessment and aquatic fungi have received limited-to-no consideration in conservation efforts. To overcome this gap, a new IUCN Species Survival Commission Aquatic Fungi Specialist Group was launched in 2023, focusing on both freshwater and marine fungi.