Original Article Diversity of higher marine fungi at Hat Khanom-Mu Ko Thale Tai National Park, Southern Thailand Jariya Sakayaroj 1 *, Orathai Supaphon 2 , E.B. Gareth Jones 1 and Souwalak Phongpaichit 2 1 National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Phaholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani, 12120 Thailand. 2 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90112 Thailand. Received 17 March 2009; Accepted 28 February 2011 Abstract Species occurrence and distribution of higher marine fungi at Hat Khanom-Mu Ko Thale Tai National Park, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Southern Thailand was investigated. Four collections from four sites yielded 112 higher marine fungi representing 79 ascomycetes, 3 basidiomycetes, 30 anamorphic fungi, while others await further identification. Average per- centage occurrence of fungi recorded ranged from 0.05-11.3%. Species diversity, richness, and evenness were greatest at Site IV, Ao Tok, Koh Taen. The most frequently encountered taxa for all sites (>10%) were Corollospora maritima and Lindra thallasiae. Lindra thallasiae and Swampomyces aegyptiacus were recorded for the first time in Thailand. Keywords: Gulf of Thailand, Khanom, mangrove, marine fungi Songklanakarin J. Sci. Technol. 33 (1), 15-22, Jan. - Feb. 2011 1. Introduction Higher filamentous marine fungi are those, which have the ability to germinate and form mycelia under natural marine conditions (Kohlmeyer and Kohlmeyer, 1979). They have been known for decades as the result of studies by Barghoorn and Linder (1944), who described ten new genera and twenty-five species from woody substrata. Since then, marine mycologi- cal research has flourished and our knowledge of marine fungal diversity has greatly expanded. Schmit and Shearer (2003) listed 625 fungi associated with mangroves, but this figure includes those species from soil, sediments and on standing mangrove trees. Recently, in the monograph of the higher marine fungi, Jones et al. (2009) list 530 species belonging to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and anamorphic taxa. Marine mangrove fungi documented for Thailand total 154 (116 Ascomycota, 28 anamorphic fungi, 3 Basidiomycota and 7 Straminopiles) while 30 taxa await further identification (Jones et al., 2006b). Thailand, located in the tropical zone, is a country rich in biodiversity (Jones and Hyde, 2004); however, only 34% of the described marine fungi have been documented for Thailand (Jones et al., 2006b). Early studies on marine fungi in Thailand were by Kohlmeyer (1984) and Koch (1986). Over the past 15 years further studies of marine fungal diversity and their ecology have been undertaken by Hyde (1988a,b; 1989a,b; 1992), Hyde et al. (1990, 1993), Chalermpongse (1991), Hyde and Jones (1992), Jones et al. (2006a,b), Ito et al. (2001), and Chatmala et al. (2004). Studies of marine fungi in Thailand have been restricted to sandy beaches, sea shores, mangroves and estuarine Nypa palm forests of the mainland (Pilantanapak, 2003; Pilantanapak et al., 2005; Jones et al., 2006b). In contrast, occurrence and distribution of marine fungi from the Thai islands have been less studied, with the exception of a few studies at Mu Ko Chang National Park, Trat Province, Eastern Thailand (Jones et al., 2006b; Jones et al., 2008; Suetrong et al., 2010). * Corresponding author. Email address: jariyask@biotec.or.th http://www.sjst.psu.ac.th