Isolation of fungi from H. scabra

Each sample was homogenized (TissueRuptor II, QIAGEN) and then suspended 1: 10 w/v in phosphate buffer. An aliquot of each sample was dried and the number of colony forming units per gram of dry weight (CFU per gdw) was calculated. One ml of suspension was plated on Corn Meal Agar (CMA) Sea Water (17 g corn meal agar dissolved in 1 L of sterilized artificial seawater, 2% w/v sea salts in ddH₂O) supplemented with chloramphenicol at 100 μg/ml. Three replicates per sample were performed. Plates were incubated at 24°C in the dark. Fungal colonies were observed periodically for morphological characterization. Strains from each fungal morphotype and from each section were preserved at the Mycology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Prince of Songkla University.