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 vigorous pumping movements of the abdomen and also by the activity of the ciliary tracts. The well-developed longitudinal muscles of the body wall of serpulids lack a special blood supply. The body surface in the larger serpulids, like "Serpula", has a rich blood supply, and the water in contact with this surface is constantly renewed. It seems probable that the outer body surface of serpulids serves as a respiratory membrane, supplying oxygen to the underlying muscles by diffusion. The biochemistry of the blood of "Serpula" is especially unusual in that the blood contains not only hemoglobin, but also chlorocruorin. While