Fungi colonizing hair-baits from three coastal beaches of Mexico

Abstract

The abundance of hair-bait colonizing fungi was investigated on the beaches of Caracoles, Mocambo, and Icacos, located on the coasts of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean, respectively. On each beach a sample of sandy soil was collected. The samples were analyzed by two selective isolation methods for keratinophilic fungi resulting in a total of 544 occurrences. A total of 17 species was found, of which 4 were ascomycetes and 13 hyphomycetes. Gymnascella dankaliensis and Aspergillus terreus were the most abundant. Arthroderma curreyi and Chrysosporium tropicum were found in low percentages in this survey. From the three beaches sampled, Icacos beach, on the Pacific Ocean coast had the highest number of isolated species.