The study of fungal species diversity from
marine algae is in its infancy; as now no studies have
been carried out on the distribution and diversity of
fungi on the surfaces of marine macroalgae where all
fungal–algal interactions tend to begin. The aim of this
study was to isolate and describe the culturable part of
mycobiota associated with the surface of benthic
marine macroalgae (epiphytic or epibiotic fungi). This
is an important step in understanding their abundance,
diversity and factors influencing their variability and
composition. The fungal community was dominated
by Ascomycetes (89%) with Eurotiales as the most
abundant fungal order followed by Capnodiales,
Pleosporales, and Hypocreales, while Zygomycetes
was less frequent. The nature of occurrence of fungal
genera on different macroalgal hosts suggests that a
mix of generalists’ framework applies to fungal
epiphytes of seaweeds, but the abundance of fungal
taxa varied among ecological functional groups of
algae, as well as macroalgal taxonomic groups, which
imply host filtering. The fungal assemblages were also
characterized by temporal variation with variation in
temperature, pH, and salinity as the most important
abiotic factors. The structure of fungal assemblages
showed high beta diversity and low similarity between
hosts.