<i>Aspergillus halopiscium </i><i>sp. nov., </i>a halophilic fungus isolated from dried marine anchovies in Vietnam

In a study on the diversity of halotolerant fungi associated with salted fish products (dried marine fish and fish sauce production facilities) in Vietnam, three strains of <i>Aspergillus</i> subgenus <i>Polypaecilum</i> were obtained by placing the samples on diluted fish sauce agar (7% NaCl, 1% amino acids, 2% agar). The strains were halophilic. On MEA, they formed compact and raised colonies, suggesting stressed conditions. Growth was enhanced with the addition of NaCl at concentrations of 5 %–10 %. Growth was poor at 15 % NaCl, and no growth was observed at 20 % NaCl. Fungal growth on both MEA and fish sauce agar produced a strong ammonia odor, indicating a high level of deamination activity. DNA sequences of the ITS-LSU rRNA, and <i>rpb2</i>, <i>tub2,</i> and <i>cmdA</i> coding gens suggest the fungus is closest to <i>Aspergillus pisce </i>but represent a distinct species. A novel taxon <i>As</i><i>pergillus halopiscium </i>is proposed. The attached dataset includes a ITS sequence alignment of species in the subgenus <i>Polypaecilum</i> and the maximum likelihood tree.