Caloplaca akbarica

Last updated

Caloplaca akbarica
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Teloschistaceae
Genus: Caloplaca
Species:
C. akbarica
Binomial name
Caloplaca akbarica
Kudratov & Khodosovtsev (2002)

Caloplaca akbarica, a species of lichen saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen described in 2002. [1] Found in Tajikistan, it has a rosette-shaped, lobate thallus, and apothecia that are distinctly pruinose . It was formally described as a new species in 2002 by the lichenologists Imomnazar Kudratov and Oleksandr Khodosovtsev.

Contents

Description

Caloplaca akbarica has a rosette-shaped thallus, expanding to 2–3 cm in size. The lobes of this lichen are yellow to orange, flattened, thin, and range in length from 1.5 to 3 mm, with a width of 0.5 to 1.0 mm and a thickness of about 0.2 mm. These lobes widen towards the tips and are closely placed or overlapping without apparent fissures, covered with a yellowish pruina . The central part of the thallus comprises smaller lobes, measuring 0.3–1.0 by 0.2–0.3 mm, which are flat to slightly convex, orange, and may have small fissures or cracks. The cortex consists of several layers of paraplectenchymatous cells. [2]

Apothecia in C. akbarica are zeorine , measuring 0.5–1.0 mm in width, and numerous. They are sessile to constricted at the base and have a thick, bright yellow pruina. Initially, they develop as distinctly pruinose primordia , contrasting with the orange thallus. The disc of the apothecia is concave to plane, covered with thick yellow pruina, and has a slightly crenulate margin. The thalline margin cortex is paraplectenchymatous, measuring 20–25 μm thick. The true exciple is well developed and consists of slightly elongated large cells. The epithecium is yellow, about 7–10 μm high, and the hymenium is hyaline, measuring 70–95 μm in height. The hypothecium is also hyaline, standing 48–60 μm tall. Asci contain eight spores, with ascospores being ellipsoid and measuring 10.7–16.8 by 5.1–9.6 μm, having septa (internal partitions) of 1.4–2.8 μm. [2]

Similar species

Caloplaca akbarica is distinguished from similar species by its flat, yellow-orange lobes with a distinct pruinose coating and the unique structure of its apothecia. It resembles Variospora aurantia in its flattened, pruinose lobes, yet differs in the shape of its ascospores. Compared to Massjukiella impolita , which has a flattened, yellowish pruinose thallus, C. akbarica differs in its narrower ascospores and wider septum. Unlike M. impolita, which tends to be coastal in western North America, C. akbarica is found in central Asia and differs in the more areolated central parts of the thallus. [2]

Habitat and distribution

At the time of its original publication, Caloplaca akbarica was known only from its type locality in southern Tajikistan, specifically from the east slope of the ridge Gozimalik. It grows on exposed limestone at high elevations, around 1,300 m (4,300 ft). [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Placomaronea fuegiana is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Candelariaceae. Found in South America, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by Martin Westberg and Patrik Frödén. The type specimen was collected by the second author in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, where it was found growing on sandstone. The species epithet fuegiana refers to the type locality. It also occurs in Pali-Aike National Park, where it grows in the pits of volcanic rocks.

Lecanactis minutissima is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Roccellaceae. Found in Sri Lanka, the lichen is characterised by its pale ochraceous thallus and sessile apothecia with dark brown discs, covered with thick white granular pruina.

Lempholemma polycarpum is a little-known species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Lichinaceae. It was first described from Yemen and is characterised by its blackish thallus, abundant small apothecia, and cyanobacteria from the genus Nostoc as its photobiont. The lichen is found on inclined limestone boulders in sun-exposed habitats with open forest vegetation. It also occurs in Madagascar and in Aldabra.

Caloplaca aliciae is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. It is characterised by a thallus that can grow up to 2 cm wide, featuring colours from dull pink to dull brown, with small, dispersed, flat areoles that are irregularly shaped and occasionally dissected by cracks, displaying a whitish, dull pink, or dull orange-brown surface. Its apothecia are lecanorine in form, initially immersed but often rising above the areoles, with each areole containing one or two apothecia that have a thalline margin matching the thallus colour.

Caloplaca conranii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. The lichen has a bright yellow thallus about 1–2 cm wide, featuring a thick texture with convex, pustule-like formations around the edges and occasionally forming clusters in the centre. Its apothecia are quite large and heavy, ranging from 0.4 to 1.5 mm in diameter, with a flat, dull orange or brownish-orange disc, and long, narrow ascospores.

Caloplaca filsonii is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It has a crust-like thallus that is uneven and warty around the edges and more distinctly wart-like in the centre, coloured in shades of grey and brownish-grey near its reproductive structures (apothecia), but lacking a developed prothallus.

Caloplaca haematommona is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It has a very thin, whitish, crust-like thallus dotted with black, spanning about 10–18 mm in width, and apothecia ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 mm in diameter, and becoming yellow-orange to brownish-orange as they mature. The lichen is known only from its type locality in Western Australia.

Caloplaca streimannii is a little-known species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in New South Wales, Australia, it is characterised by its powdery soredious mass and numerous tiny apothecia.

Elixjohnia gallowayi is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It has a vividly coloured thallus, ranging in hues from bright red to reddish-orange. It is found in Australia.

Filsoniana australiensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen forms patches up to 9 cm wide, with dull pink to brownish pink lobes and a verrucose central area. It has distinctive, raised reddish-orange apothecia.

Neobrownliella montisfracti is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The small lichen has dull pink to grey areoles, characterised by completely immersed, reddish to pink-brown apothecia and lacking soredia and isidia. Its areoles are closely pressed against the substrate, with the apothecia containing small, elongated ascospores and narrowly rod-shaped conidia.

Caloplaca sterilis is a corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen belonging to the family Teloschistaceae, described in 2011. It is primarily found in steppe and sand dune habitats in the Black Sea region, and has been recorded from Bulgaria, Romania, southwest Russia, and Ukraine. Caloplaca sterilis is characterised by tiny squamules/areoles with contrasting pale greyish-green to greenish soredia. It is easily overlooked and challenging to identify when completely sorediate and sterile, especially as its soredia do not contain the typical Sedifolia-grey pigment.

Eilifdahlia sergeyana is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The lichen thallus has an uneven and scaly texture, forming patches up to 40 mm wide in dull greenish-grey or brownish-grey. Its fruiting bodies (apothecia) are orange to yellow, with a biatorine structure, and range from 0.5 to 1 mm wide. These apothecia have a matte surface and a cup-shaped margin containing golden-yellow crystals. The paraphyses within are slender and branched, and the asci contain ellipsoid spores.

Placolecis kunmingensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Catillariaceae. It is found in Yunnan, China. The lichen is characterised by a thallus that is areolate to squamulose in its centre, forming irregular patches or clumps 10–50 mm wide, as well as its ellipsoid or spherical ascospores with slightly thickened wall.

Caloplaca patagoniensis is a species of lignicolous (wood-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Chile. It forms small thallus patches, with distinctive areoles that change from whitish or greyish-yellow to deep orange or brownish-orange, often covered by a bright orange blastidious mass. Its fruiting bodies (apothecia) are dark reddish-orange and initially immersed in the substrate, while its spores are ellipsoid to elongated, and the species contains parietin, turning purple when exposed to a potassium hydroxide solution.

Caloplaca ulleungensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in South Korea, particularly on Ulleungdo and Jeju Islands.

Caloplaca nothoholocarpa is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Chile.

<i>Lobariella reticulata</i> Species of lichen

Lobariella reticulata is a species of foliose lichen in the family Peltigeraceae. It is found in Colombia.

Caloplaca pseudocitrina, a little-known species of lichen saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in southern Tajikistan, it has a squamulose (scaley) thallus forming extensive yellow-orange spots. It was formally described as a new species in 2002 by the lichenologists Imomnazar Kudratov and Oleksandr Khodosovtsev.

Flavoplaca kantvilasii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2007.

References

  1. "Caloplaca pseudocitrina Kudratov & Khodos". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kondratyuk, Sergey; Kärnefelt, Ingvar; Kudratov, Imomnazar; Khodosovtsev, Alexander (2002). "Two new species of Caloplaca from Tadjikistan, Central Asia". Nordic Journal of Botany. 22 (5): 633–640. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.2002.tb01920.x.