Saprolegnia parasitica Coker in Estuaries

Abstract

IN a recent article Stuart and Fuller¹ question whether Saprolegnia parasitica Coker should be regarded as a freshwater fungus or a fungus capable of growing and sporing in both freshwater and estuarine environments. I find that their review of data concerning the tolerance of Saprolegniaceae to saline environments is misleading because (a) they fail to point out the discrepancy in the literature between the influence of temperature on spore production in the freshwater and saline environments, and (b) they do not distinguish between vegetative growth with asexual sporulation and the mere presence of viable but unidentified propagules.