Fellhaneropsis

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Fellhaneropsis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Pilocarpaceae
Genus: Fellhaneropsis
Sérus. & Coppins (1996)
Type species
Fellhaneropsis myrtillicola
(Erichsen) Sérus. & Coppins (1996)

Fellhaneropsis is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pilocarpaceae. The genus comprises 11 accepted species as of 2025. These inconspicuous lichens form extremely thin, smooth to powdery films that spread over bark, leaves, or other plant surfaces, and unlike their close relatives in Fellhanera , they produce no detectable lichen products.

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed by Emmanuël Sérusiaux and Brian John Coppins in 1996, with F. myrtillicola assigned as the type species. [1] It is named in honour of the Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner. [2]

Description

Fellhaneropsis species form an extremely thin, crust-like thallus that sits flush against the substrate and lacks any protective outer skin ( cortex ). The surface is usually smooth to slightly powdery and varies from whitish to dull grey-green, spreading in inconspicuous films over bark, leaves or other plant material. The internal photobiont partner is a simple chlorococcoid alga—tiny, spherical cells 5–12  μm in diameter—that are evenly dispersed through the fungal tissue. Because there is no distinct hypothallus (the dark border seen in some crusts), colonies merge almost imperceptibly into the underlying surface. [3]

Sexual reproduction occurs in small, stalkless apothecia measuring 0.1–0.4 mm across. Each fruit body is pinched in at the base and loses its thin rim early, leaving a flat to slightly convex disc . The disc's wall, or true exciple , is a delicate layer of rounded to polyhedral cells arranged more or less upright rather than in the densely interwoven 'brickwork' typical of many lichens. Inside, colourless paraphyses branch and link together, surrounding club-shaped asci that contain eight ascospores. Both the ascus tip and its gelatinous outer coat stain blue in iodine—an amyloid reaction. The spores are long and needle-to-spindle-shaped, divided by three to seven cross-walls, and sometimes wrapped in a faint, jelly-like sheath. [3]

Asexual reproduction takes place in minute pycnidia sunk into the thallus. These flask-shaped structures are ringed by upright, fringe-like hyphae around the pore (ostiole) and usually release one type of conidium: a very slender, thread-like spore with no internal walls. In F. myrtillicola a second, shorter bacilliform conidium is also produced. No secondary lichen substances have so far been detected in the genus, setting Fellhaneropsis apart from its chemically positive relative Fellhanera . [3]

Species

As of July 2025, species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accept 11 species of Fellhaneropsis: [4]

References

  1. ↑ Sérusiaux, Emmanuël (1996). "Foliicolous lichens from Madeira, with the description of a new genus and two new species and a world-wide key of foliicolous Fellhanera". The Lichenologist. 28 (3): 197–227. Bibcode:1996ThLic..28..197S. doi:10.1006/lich.1996.0019. hdl: 2268/174989 .
  2. ↑ Hertel, Hannes; Gärtner, Georg; Lőkös, László (2017). "Forscher an Österreichs Flechtenflora" [Investigators of Austria's lichen flora](PDF). Stapfia (in German). 104 (2): 1–211.
  3. 1 2 3 Cannon, P.; Orange, A.; Aptroot, A.; Sanderson, N.; Coppins, B.; Simkin, J. (2022). Lecanorales: Pilocarpaceae, including the genera Aquacidia, Byssoloma, Fellhanera, Fellhaneropsis, Leimonis and Micarea (PDF). Revisions of British and Irish Lichens. Vol. 27. p. 12.
  4. ↑ "Fellhaneropsis". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  5. ↑ Ekman, S. (2015). "Fellhaneropsis almquistiorum sp. nov. from Europe (Pilocarpaceae, lichenized Ascomycota)". Nordic Journal of Botany. 33 (6): 641–645. Bibcode:2015NorJB..33..641E. doi:10.1111/njb.00969.
  6. ↑ Lücking, Robert; Streimann, Heinar; Elix, John A. (2001). "Further records of foliicolous lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Australasia, with an updated checklist for continental Australia". The Lichenologist. 33 (3): 195–210. Bibcode:2001ThLic..33..195L. doi:10.1006/lich.2000.0316.
  7. ↑ McCarthy, P.M. (2021). "A new terricolous species of Fellhaneropsis (lichenized Ascomycota, Pilocarpaceae) from Papua New Guinea" (PDF). Australasian Lichenology. 88: 45–47.
  8. ↑ Thor, G.; Lücking, R.; Matsumoto, T. (2000). "The foliicolous lichen flora of Japan". Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses. 32 (3): 1–72 [41].
  9. 1 2 McCarthy, P.M.; Kantvilas, G.; Elix, J.A. (2017). "Two new species of Fellhaneropsis (lichenized Ascomycota, Pilocarpaceae) from Australia" (PDF). Australasian Lichenology. 81: 16–25.
  10. ↑ Kantvilas, G.; Lücking, R. (2009). "Fellhaneropsis pallidonigricans, a south-eastern Australian lichen". Muelleria. 27 (2): 171–173. doi: 10.5962/p.291951 .
  11. ↑ Aptroot, André (2012). "A new foliicolous Fellhaneropsis (Pilocarpaceae) from the Netherlands". The Lichenologist. 44 (4): 441–444. Bibcode:2012ThLic..44..441A. doi:10.1017/S0024282912000011.
  12. ↑ Øvstedal, D.O.; Gremmen, N.J.M. (2006). "Lichens of sub-Antarctic Heard Island". South African Journal of Botany. 72 (3): 353–366. Bibcode:2006SAJB...72..353O. doi: 10.1016/j.sajb.2005.09.008 .
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