Colonisation by marine fungi on panels of thirty species of Indian timbers, ten species of imported timbers, marine plywood (coated with polyurethane as well as uncoated) and also on panels of five timber species treated with Copper-Chrome-Arsenic (CCA) and Copper-Chrome-Boric (CCB) preservatives, was studied by exposing test blocks in the Mandovi estuary, Goa (West coast of India) for periods ranging from five to fifty-one months. Panels were installed both in a mangrove habitat (at Chorao), as well as in the estuary (at Betim). Examination of the wood samples revealed the occurrence of atleast fourteen species of fungi. Periconia prolifica, Lignicola laevis, Aniptodera sp. and Lulworthia sp. were common in panels exposed in the mangrove area, while Periconia prolifica, Halosphaeria quadricornuta and Humicola alopallonella were abundant in panels immersed in estuary. Halosphaeria quadricornuta and Periconia prolifica were more frequent in treated wood. It was also found that CCA was more effective than CCB in preventing fungal infestation. Fungal species diversity between the mangrove and nonmangrove areas and also between treated and untreated wood panels has been discussed, together with notes on the probable role of fungi in supporting specific woodborers in the mangrove habitat.

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