The Coccodiniaceae are a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of fungi in the Ascomycota

Ascomycota

The Ascomycota are a Division/Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the Sac fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species...

, class Lecanoromycetes

Lecanoromycetes

Lecanoromycetes is the largest class of lichenized fungi. It belongs to the subphylum Pezizomycotina in the phylum Ascomycota. The asci of the Lecanoromycetes most often release spores by rostrate dehiscence....

. First described in 1918 by Franz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel

Franz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel

Franz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel was an Austrian bryologist, mycologist, and algologist. He obtained his PhD in Strasbourg in 1877, and was a professor of botany in the Vienna University of Technology from 1884 to 1920...

 as "Coccodiniaceen" (an invalid naming according to the rules of fungal taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

), the family was renamed by O.E. Eriksson in 1981. Species in the family have a widespread distribution, and typically grow epiphytically

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

 or biotrophically on leaves and stems.