New records, rare and noteworthy species of the genus Nowakowskiella (Nowakowskiellaceae, Chytridiomycota) from India

Six species of the genus Nowakowskiella (Nowakowskiel-laceae, Chytridiomycota), specifically Nowakowskiella elegans, N. hemisphaerospora, N. profusa, N. multispora, N. ramosa and N. macrospora as well as one variety N. multispora var. longa are described herein from India. N. hemisphaerospora and N. macrospora are reported as new records for the country. This increases the num-ber of Nowakowskiella species known from India to seven. N. multispora var. longa is a rare species that has pre-viously only been found in Poland and India. All these species along, with the variety, are illustrated with the help of light photomicrographs and compared with other similar species. Morphological descriptions, illus-trations, distribution and comments of the species exa-mined are presented. Besides, we analysed nu-rRNA gene sequences (partial large subunit) of six Nowakowskiella isolates from Indian aquatic and soil samples. In addi-tion, a summary of unique traits based on the morpho-logical features of all these species are provided in this study to differentiate them.