# Does fungus of any sort grow in the oceans?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-fungus-of-any-sort-grow-in-the-oceans/284193>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 11, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-fungus-of-any-sort-grow-in-the-oceans/284193 "2005-01-11T09:03:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-fungus-of-any-sort-grow-in-the-oceans/284193/1 "2005-01-11T09:03:04Z")

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Just a stupid thought that entered my head for some reason.

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**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-fungus-of-any-sort-grow-in-the-oceans/284193/2 "2005-01-11T09:27:13Z")

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there are many fungal diseases of fish, so I suppose the answer is yes, at least in fresh water  
[http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM033](http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM033)

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-fungus-of-any-sort-grow-in-the-oceans/284193/3 "2005-01-11T14:43:33Z")

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Yes, there are quite a few species of marine fungi that live on plants, algae, dead wood, etc, and some fungal diseases of marine fish (and I would guess other organisms). Although marine fungi seem to be much less common and less diverse than in terrestrial and freshwater environments, I don’t think they have been very well studied. They could be more common and diverse than are supposed.