AQUATIC HYPHOMYCETES OF A SULFUR SPRING

Aquatic hyphomycetes of a sulphur spring in the Western Ghat region of Karnataka were investigated by the following methods: leaf litter observations, water filtration, analysis of natural and induced foam. The samples were collected and studied from three sites, the spring proper (site I), the connecting region of the spring and the rivulet (site II) and the spot where the spring joins the rivulet (site III). The number of species of hyphomycetes encountered at the three sites were 1, 14 and 20, respectively. The sulphide content of the spring ranged between 0.1-3.1 mg 1-1 and the temperature between 26.5-36.5-degrees-C. In another experiment submerged coffee leaves from a fresh water stream were collected and incubated in spring water, stream water and well water at different temperatures (16-40-degrees-C). A maximum of 18 species of hyphomycetes sporulated at 22-degrees-C followed by 17 species at 28-degrees-C, irrespective of the source of water in which the leaves were incubated. Based on these studies, we conclude that the presence of only one species in the spring proper (site I) was not due to the higher sulphide content, but to the high temperature.