Serpula himantioides Serpula himantioides Serpula himantioides is a species of fungus that causes damage to timber referred to as dry rot. It is a basidiomycete in the order Boletales. It has been found on all continents except for Antarctica. Recent molecular work demonstrates that "S. himantioides" is a species complex including multiple cryptic lineages. The fungus was first described in 1818 by Elias Magnus Fries as "Merulius himantioides". Petter Karsten transferred it to the genus "Serpula" in 1884. "Serpula himantioides" is a fungal pathogen within the division Basidiomycota. It produces thin, resupinate (inverted), membranous fan-like basidiocarps that are brownish in color and
Serpula boats in many coastal areas around the world. They are found at depths ranging from intertidal to at least 800 meters. Predators include predatory starfish such as the Ochre Sea Star ("Pisaster ochraceous"). "Serpula" has lived since the Cretaceous period, according to fossils found in the Cretaceous Black Creek Formation of North Carolina. The funnel-shaped, symmetrical peristomium is fused with the prostomium to form the head, at the anterior end of the body. Worms of the genus "Serpula" have two photoreceptors or "eyespots" on the peristomium. The prostomium bears a branchial "crown", a specialized mouth appendage which resembles a fan