Baltomyces, a new genus of gut-inhabiting fungus in an isopod

A new monotypic genus, Baltomyces, is described for a species found in the hindgut of aquatic isopods from a Louisiana swamp. The type species, B. styrax, is characterized by chains of long-fusiform sporangia, each bearing a single cylindrical spore. The thallus lacks a defined holdfast and attaches lengthwise to the hindgut. Although some features resemble the order Asellariales (Trichomycetes), others are so distinct when compared to the existing orders that placement in the Trichomycetes, as currently constituted, is problematic.