The macrofungi of Gozo (Maltese Islands): an annotated checklist

Abstract

online.Records of macrofungi from Gozo are few and underrepresented when compared to those found in mainland Malta. An investigation on the macrofungi occurring on Gozo has been carried out to narrow this knowledge gap. During the present study, 147 samples were collected from Gozo between October 2019 and April 2021. From this sampling effort, 70 different species of macrofungi were identified, of which 61 were new records for Gozo and 45 were new records for the Maltese Islands. Five of these new records (one new to science) were already published during the progress of this work, whereas the remaining 40 new records are reported for the first time in this account. This investigation elevated the number of macrofungi in Gozo from 36 (prior to the onset of this work) to 97 species. For each of the 40 new records, a detailed account of the examined material, ecology, macro-and micro-morphology, and notes related to the taxonomy and closely related species are provided. An annotated checklist of all the 97 species occurring in Gozo is given, and details on the locations of each collection are also included. The main threats that local macrofungi are currently facing in Malta and Gozo are for the first time exposed, and conservation measures are discussed.