The Verrucariaceae are a family of mostly lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichen-forming species, which comprise the vast majority of the family, have a wide variety of thallus forms, and include crustose (crust-like), foliose (bushy), and squamulose (scaly) representatives. Several characteristics of the spore-bearing structures, the ascomata, define the family, including their perithecioid form–more or less spherical or flask-shaped, with a single opening and otherwise completely enclosed by a wall. Squamulose members of the Verrucariaceae with simple ascospores, and without algae in the spore-bearing region are known as catapyrenioid lichens; there are more than 80 of these species. The family has several dozen lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) examples, including a few genera that contain solely lichenicolous members. An unusually diverse variety of photobiont partners have been recorded, mostly green algae, but also brown algae and yellow-green algae.
Clavascidium is a genus of lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 1996 by Austrian lichenologist Othmar Breuss. Because the type species of the genus, Clavascidium umbrinum, has been shown using molecular phylogenetics to belong to genus Placidium, Cécile Gueidan and colleagues proposed to unite Clavascidium with Placidium in a 2009 publication. Despite this, the genus has been retained in recent publications of fungal classification.
Placidiopsis is a genus of lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Italian naturalist Francesco Beltramini de Casati in 1858, with Placidiopsis grappae assigned as the type species.
Heteroplacidium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Verrucariaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Austrian lichenologist Othmar Breuss in 1996 with Heteroplacidium imbricatum assigned as the type species. It was proposed as a segregate of Catapyrenium. Other morphologically similar genera are Neocatapyrenium, Placidium, and Scleropyrenium, although molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that they are independent monophyletic lineages within the Verrucariaceae.
Sarcopyrenia is a genus of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi. It has 11 species. It is the only genus in Sarcopyreniaceae, a family in the order Verrucariales. Sarcopyrenia was circumscribed by Finnish lichenologist William Nylander in 1858, with Sarcopyrenia gibba assigned as the type species. Sarcopyreniaceae is one of the few families composed entirely of lichenicolous fungi.
Hydropunctaria is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. The genus includes both aquatic and amphibious species, with members that colonise either marine or freshwater habitats. The type species, Hydropunctaria maura, was formerly classified in the large genus Verrucaria. It is a widely distributed species common to littoral zones. Including the type species, five Hydropunctaria lichens are considered marine species: H. adriatica, H. amphibia, H. aractina, H. orae, and H. oceanica.
Parabagliettoa is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It has 3 species. The genus was circumscribed in 2009 by Cécile Gueidan and Claude Roux, with Parabagliettoa dufourii assigned as the type species.
Maurice Léopold Joseph Bouly de Lesdain was a French botanist and lichenologist.
Verrucula is a genus of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. Species in the genus are parasitic on saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens, including Xanthoria elegans as well as lichens from genus Caloplaca that contain chemical substances called anthraquinones.
Willeya is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It has 12 species. Most species are found in southeast Asia, although individual representatives are known from Australia, Europe, and North America.
Wahlenbergiella is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It has three species, all of which live in marine intertidal zones where they get periodically immersed in seawater. Wahlenbergiella closely resembles another lichen genus that includes marine species, Hydropunctaria. Wahlenbergiella was circumscribed in 2009 by Cécile Gueidan and Holger Thüs. They initially included two species: W. striatula, and the type,W. mucosa. The generic name honours Swedish naturalist Göran Wahlenberg, who originally described both of these species.
Staurothele elenkinii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It was described as new to science by Ukrainian lichenologist Alfred Oxner in 1927, from the steppes of Ukraine. In 2013 it was recorded from the northeast Caucasus, in Russia. It is also widespread on dry rocks in the North American west, ranging from the Northwest Territories south to the southwestern United States. It grows on shales, sandstones, and calcareous rocks.
Hydropunctaria rheitrophila is a species of freshwater, saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 1922 by German lichenologist Georg Hermann Zschacke as a species of Verrucaria. Christine Keller, Cécile Gueidan, and Holger Thüs transferred it to the newly circumscribed genus Hydropunctaria in 2009. It is one of several aquatic lichens that are in this genus. The photobiont partner of Hydropunctaria rheitrophila is a yellow-green alga.
Heteroplacidium compactum is a species of areolate, crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution. It is a lichenicolous lichen, growing as a facultative parasite on other lichens, typically on non-calcareous rock. It has rod-shaped (bacilliform) conidia measuring 5–7 μm long, and ascospores that are 11–18 by 8–10 μm. Heteroplacidium zamenhofianum is a closely related species distinguished by having perithecia situated in the algal layer, and smaller ascospores with a more narrow ellipsoid shape.
Verrucaria bernaicensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It was first formally described by Alexandre François Malbranche in 1869. It has a dull, pale grey thallus that is areolate to somewhat squamulose in form. Its perithecia are immersed in the substrata, measure 0.2–0.3 mm in diameter, and lack an involucrellum. Its ascospores are broadly ellipsoid to roughly spherical, measuring 9–11 by 7–9 μm. The lichen has been recorded from Asia, a few European countries, Russia and the Caucasus, and southwestern North America.
Trimmatothele is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It has five species. The genus was formally published by lichenologist Alexander Zahlbruckner in 1903. The type species, Trimmatothele perquisita, was originally collected from Norway by Johannes M. Norman, who placed it in the genus Coniothele in 1868. Diagnostic characteristics of Trimmatothele include a thin thallus with a smooth surface; small perithecia that are partially immersed in the substrata and have an involucrellum; asci that contain multiple ascospores; and small, simple ascospores. Trimmatothele has been described as one of the most poorly known genera of lichens due to the rarity of its species, the few available herbarium specimens, and some missing type specimens.
Wahlenbergiella mucosa is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is a marine species that grows in the littoral zone, and therefore remains immersed in seawater for extended periods. Its photobiont partner is the green alga Paulbroadya petersii.
Claude Roux is a French lichenologist, mycologist and Esperantist. He has co-authored books about the identification of lichens written in Esperanto.
Verrucula arnoldaria is a rare species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It grows parasitically on the thallus of the rock-dwelling, crustose lichen Calogaya arnoldii. The species was formally described as new to science in 2007 by lichenologists Père Navarro-Rosinés and Claude Roux, from specimens collected in Vaucluse, France. It has also been recorded from Italy. The lichen has a thick brownish-grey, areolate thallus that roughly maintains the shape of its underlying host. The thallus is covered with a crystalline pruina. It makes ellipsoid spores that measure up to about 15 μm long. Its host grows on calciferous rocks and calciferous schists.
