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. sty rax, 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 Asell ariales (Trichomycetes), others are so distinct when compared to the existi ng orders that placement in the Trichomycetes, as currently constituted, is problematic.