Microscopic fungi on cadavers and skeletons from cave and mine environments.

Abstract

During long-term studies of microscopic fungi in 80 European caves and mine environments many cadavers and skeletons of animals inhabiting these environments and various animal visitors were found, some of them with visible microfungal growth. Direct isolation, the dilution plate method and various types of isolation media were used. The resulting spectrum of isolated fungi is presented and compared with records about their previous isolation. Compared to former studies focused mainly on bat mycobiota, this paper contributes to a wider knowledge of fungal assemblages colonising various animal bodies in underground environments. The most interesting findings include ascocarps of Acaulium caviariforme found abundant on mammals cadavers, while Botryosporium longibrachiatum isolated from frogs, Chaetocladium jonesiae from bats and Penicillium vulpinum from spiders represent the first records of these species from cadavers or skeletons.