Piromyces rhizinflata nov. sp., a strictly anaerobic fungus from faeces of the Saharian ass: a morphological, metabolic and ultrastructural study.

A new species of strictly anaerobic chytridiomycete was isolated from dried faeces of the Saharian ass that had been stored for up to 150 days. Because of its monocentric thallus and uniflagellate zoospores it belongs to the genus Piromyces. It exhibits a high affinity for P. mae and P. dumbonica but differs from them in its morphological and ultrastructural characteristics. Its flagellar apparatus is similar to that of all previously reported fungi.