Halophilomyces zeylanica Wijayaw., Rajakaruna, D. J. Bhat, P. M. Kirk & K. G. S. U. Ariyaw. 2026, sp. nov.

Halophilomyces zeylanica Wijayaw., Rajakaruna, D. J. Bhat, P. M. Kirk & K. G. S. U. Ariyaw. sp. nov. Fig. 9 = Halophilomyces hongkongensis Xiao Wang, L. Pecoraro & H. B. Liu, J. Fungi 10 (7, no. 474): 10 (2024) (Nom. inval., Art. 40.7 (Shenzhen)); Index Fungorum Registration Identifier IF 854690. Etymology. The species epithet ‘ zeylanica ’ refers to the old name of Sri Lanka, ‘ Ceylon. ’ Culture characteristics. Surface cottony, filamentous, round in shape with raised margin. Colonies cultured on PDA reaching 52–55 mm diam. at 25 ° C after 14 days, forming dense areal mycelium with partly submerged hyphae, white to olive at center; white at edges in forward view; reverse black with white margin. Micromorphology. Mycelium partly superficial, partly immersed, composed of 3.3–3.9 μm wide, septate, branched, pale brown to olivaceous brown, smooth hyphae, with abundant hyphal loops. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells micronematous to semi-macronematous, holoblastic. Conidia acrogenous, solitary to catenate, 1–4 - septate, deeply constricted at septa, coiled to spiral when in chains, dark brown, smooth-walled, 24–54 μm diam. (x ̄ = 32.2 diam., n = 30), globose to subglobose, with apical cell 14–25 µm, basal cell 9–22 µm. Single-celled conidia 9–30 μm diam. (x ̄ = 22.1 μm diam., n = 30), present, rarely found; Chlamydospores in chains, 5–8 - celled, intercalary in hyphae, with cells ellipsoidal to globose, 14–21 μm diam., olivaceous brown, smooth. Typification. Sri Lanka • North Western Province, Puttalam District, Kalpitiya, Puttalam Lagoon, endophytic in healthy leaves of Enhalus acoroides, 23 August 2023, O. Rajakaruna & S. Udagedara (holotype RUSLH / 249, dried culture; ex-type UOCCC 251203). Additional material examined. Sri Lanka • North Western Province, Puttalam District, Kalpitiya, Puttalam Lagoon, endophytic in healthy leaves of Enhalus acoroides, 23 August 2023, O. Rajakaruna & S. Udagedara, living culture EN 39 a = UOCCC 251211. Notes. Phylogenetically, the new collections (UOCCC 251203 and UOCCC 251211) formed a sister clade with Halophilomyces hongkongensis (HOMAR 1, HOMAR 2, HOMAR 3, and HOMAR 4) with 100 % ML support. The new isolates have only four base pair differences in the ITS locus compared to the ex-type of H. hongkongensis and no differences in the LSU and SSU loci. Conidial dimensions of the new collections resemble those described in Wang et al. (2024). Hence, we confirm that our new strains belong to Halophilomyces hongkongensis (Fig. 4). Wang et al. (2024), in the original publication that introduced Halophilomyces and H. hongkongensis, did not designate a holotype for the type species; thus, both the type species and the genus are invalid (Art. 40.1 (Index Fungorum 2025). Here, we designate our new collection (the dried culture) as the new holotype RUSLH / 249 and deposit a new living culture (UOCCC 251203) as the ex-type. Thus, we validate the genus with a new Index Fungorum Registration Identifier and provide a new name for Halophilomyces hongkongensis, namely Halophilomyces zeylanica, with a new Index Fungorum Registration Identifier.