Osservazioni sul genere Lulworthia Suth. e sui suoi rapporti con Limnoria Menzies e segnalazioni di altre specie

Observations on the genus Lulworthia Suth., on its relationship with Limnoria Menzies and records of others species. - Near a coral-limestone before Bogliasco-Genova panels of various woods: Abies alba, Ochroma lagopus, Fagus silvatica, Olea europaea, Larix decidua, Pinus pinaster, Populus alba have been laid as a bait. When they have been fished out again, after lengths of time varying from a minimum of a month and a half to a maximum of eleven months, with intervals of about one month and a half, they have often presented, besides the normal bentonic flora and fauna, numerous long, bright, septate, brown hyphae emerging from the wood. Only after the panels have been perforated by Limnoria tripunctata the perithecia of Lulworthia sp. appear; the quantity of these seems to be inversely proportional to that of the brown hyphae, which is particularly evident in Olea and Populus. In some preparations (slides) it is possible to notice connections between the brown mycelium inside the wood and the perithecia of the ascomicete. It is believed that the brown hyphae represent the vegetative stage of the strain of Lulworthia found at Bogliasco but that only after the perforation and alteration of the wood caused by Limnoria, the fungus is able to form the perithecia. The biometric values of the above mentioned Lulworthia are given. Besides, the finding of the Papulaspora halima Anast. is reported; such species, described in California in 1963, has been found in Japan, too. It is also noticed the presence of Corollospora maritima Wender., already found in other stations of the Mediterranean, and other ubiquitous species.