We are striving to develop a reference catalogue of the organisms that we have identified, isolated, etc., which could eventually be used by new workers in the field. The author appears to be the only local person researching marine and estuarine fungi. The latter project is restricted to fungi associated with intertidal driftwood. It is hoped that this work will be published in the next year or two. There are serious gaps in that no investigations have been carried out in estuaries where mangroves do not occur, even along the east coast substrates other than mangroves need to be investigated, and more collections of rocky shore fungi are needed from East London northwards.
Little information is available on marine fungi associated with marine algae and marine animals.
Fungi have been shown in recent years to play a significant degradative role in marine and estuarine environments. Unfortunately in this country, and also elsewhere, marine fungi seem to have been almost overlooked in evaluating food chains. Knowledge of the occurrence and distribution of fungi will contribute towards a greater understanding of the role of these organisms in different marine ecosystems. Extensive taxonomic surveys of marine fungi have been conducted in Europe, North America and the Far East. There are a number of very competent taxonomists working in these areas.