Disseminated phaeohyphomycosis in a beluga sturgeon (Huso huso)

Phaeohyphomycosis is a fungal infection caused by dematiaceous or melanised fungi (Seyedmousavi, Guillot, and de Hoog 2013). Although considered ubiquitous residents of plant material, soil, and wood, melanised fungi are likely adapted to specific niches that facilitate variable opportunistic or true pathogenic potentials. Exposure is typically associated with inoculation by minor trauma or inhalation. In mammals, infections are commonly cutaneous, subcutaneous, upper respiratory or primary cerebral, but in cold-blooded vertebrates are often disseminated and accompanied by severe tissue necrosis (Revankar, Sutton, and Rinaldi 2004; Seyedmousavi, Guillot, and de Hoog 2013).