Verrucaria

Last updated

Verrucaria
Verrucaria nigrescens 080408.jpg
Verrucaria nigrescens , Schwäbische Alb, Germany
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Eurotiomycetes
Order: Verrucariales
Family: Verrucariaceae
Genus: Verrucaria
Shrad. (1794)
Type species
Verrucaria rupestris
Shrad. (1794)
Species

about 150 accepted species

Synonyms
  • TrimmatotheleNorman ex Zahlbr. (1903)

Verrucaria is a genus of lichenized (lichen-forming) fungi in the family Verrucariaceae. [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed by German botanist Heinrich Adolph Schrader in 1794, with Verrucaria rupestris assigned as the type species. In his brief diagnosis of the genus, Schrader mentioned the more or less spherical (subglobose), closed ascomata, and the crustose thallus. [2] The genus name is derived from the Latin word verruca (meaning "wart") and the suffix -aria (meaning "belonging to" or "possession"). [3]

Ecology

As of 2015, there were 16 Verrucaria species classified as marine species: V. adguttata , V. allantoidea , V. ceuthocarpa , V. corallensi , V. ditmarsica , V. erichsenii , V. halizoa , V. halochlora , V. microsporoides , V. paulula , V. psychrophila , V. sandstedei , V. serpuloides , V. sessilis , V. subdiscreta , and V. thalassina . [4]

Species

Distribution

Verrucaria ditmarsica has been recorded in 1984 from the Lighthouse Island, Copeland Island, County Down, Northern Ireland. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verrucariaceae</span> Family of mostly lichenised fungi

Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on land, some in freshwater and a few in the sea. Many are free-living but there are some species that are parasites on other lichens, while one marine species always lives together with a leafy green alga.

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.

Frigidopyrenia is a fungal genus in the family Xanthopyreniaceae. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Frigidopyrenia bryospila, a subarctic crustose lichen. This lichen was originally described by Finnish lichenologist William Nylander in 1864 as Verrucaria bryospila. It was shuffled to several genera in its taxonomic history before Martin Grube circumscribed Frigidopyrenia in 2005 to contain it. As of 2017, no molecular sequence data was available for Frigidopyrenia.

<i>Hydropunctaria maura</i> Species of lichen

Hydropunctaria maura, still often called by the older name Verrucaria maura and commonly known as tar lichen, is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen belonging to the family Verrucariaceae. A perennial species that does not experience seasonal variations, it is the type species of the genus Hydropunctaria. The medulla is a black basal layer that forms columns to the upper surface and isolates the algae into pockets near the upper surface. The black band formed by H. maura can often be seen at a distance as a marker of the high water point.

Orvo Vitikainen is a Finnish lichenologist. He entered the University of Helsinki in 1961, from where he obtained a Candidate of Philosophy degree in 1966, and a Licentiate of Philosophy in 1971. He later earned a Ph.D. from this institution in 1994, under the supervision of Teuvo Ahti. Between the years 1961 and 1981 he was a junior curator of cryptogams at the University of Helsinki Botanical Garden, and then from 1983 to 2004 he was the head of the lichen herbarium. Here he managed the internationally valuable collections of the early lichenologists Erik Acharius and William Nylander. He has collected thousands of specimens for the herbarium from various locations in Finland, but also internationally, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russian Karelia, Scotland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Tanzania, Kenya, British Columbia, and Brazil. In 1992–1994, he was a scientist of the Finnish Academy in the Ahti research group.

<i>Hydropunctaria</i> Genus of lichen

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.

Verrucaria serpuloides is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen belonging to the family Verrucariaceae. It is native to the Antarctic Peninsula. It is one of only two permanently submerged species of lichen, the other being Hydrothyria venosa, and the only one found permanently submerged in a marine environment. Collections of the species were first made in 1944 by Elke Mackenzie.

Heteroplacidium zamenhofianum is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-eating) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. As a juvenile, it is parasitic on some members of the lichen genus Staurothele, but later becomes independent and develops a brown, crustose thallus. Characteristic features of the lichen include its dark brown, somewhat squamulous thallus and relatively small ascospores. It is widely distributed in Europe and North America.

<i>Verrucula</i> Genus of lichens

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.

<i>Atla</i> (lichen) Genus of lichens

Atla is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It has nine species that grow on rocks or on soil.

<i>Wahlenbergiella</i> Genus of lichens

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.

Verrucaria ahtii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is found in Finland, Lithuania, Russia, and Switzerland, where it occurs on calcareous pebbles.

Hydropunctaria oceanica is a species of crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is a marine lichen. Found in Great Britain, it was formally described as a new species in 2012 by lichenologist Alan Orange. The type specimen was collected near Haverfordwest, where it was found growing on siliceous rocks on the seashore. It has also been recorded in Ireland. The species epithet oceanica refers to its growth near the ocean. The lichen is similar in appearance, and often grows contiguously with the common and widespread littoral zone lichen Hydropunctaria maura, but is genetically distinct from that species.

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.

<i>Wahlenbergiella mucosa</i> Species of lichen

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.

<i>Verrucaria funckii</i> Species of lichen

Verrucaria funckii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), semi-aquatic, crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It occurs on inundated or submerged rocks and pebbles in streams and lakeshores. It is widespread in Europe, including Northern Europe and Iceland, central Europe including the Carpathians and the Alps, and southern Europe. It is also found in Asia and North America.

Verrucaria hydrophila is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. Found in freshwater habitats in Europe, it was formally described as a new species in 2013 by lichenologist Alan Orange. The type specimen was collected by the author from Melindwr, Coed y Fron Wyllt, where it was found in a woodland growing on a shaded stone in a stream. The lichen has a thin, smooth, grey-green to brownish thallus that is somewhat translucent when wet. It is widespread in Europe and the British Isles, where it grows on rocks and stones in streams and seepages; the species epithet refers to its semi-aquatic habitat.

<i>Verrucaria viridula</i> Species of lichen

Verrucaria viridula is a common and widely distributed species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. Although it is a somewhat morphologically variable species, two persistent distinguishing characteristics are its relatively large perithecia, which are often curved into a beak, and its large ascospores.

<i>Hydropunctaria amphibia</i> Species of lichen

Hydropunctaria amphibia is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. One of several marine lichens in the genus Hydropunctaria, it is found in Europe from Norway to the Mediterranean Basin, and on both the east and west coasts of North America. The black, more or less thick, crust-like thallus grows on seashore rocks – both siliceous rocks and limestone – in the lower supralittoral zone, an area also known as the splash zone. Hydropunctaria amphibia sets itself apart from other species in Hydropunctaria through the distinct shape of the perithecium apex, which is either flat-topped or scalloped, in contrast to the typically rounded or immersed apex seen in its relatives.

References

  1. Gueidan C, Roux C, Lutzoni F (2007). "Using a multigene phylogenetic analysis to assess generic delineation and character evolution in Verrucariaceae (Verrucariales, Ascomycota)". Mycological Research. 111 (Pt 10): 1145–68. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.08.010. PMID   17981450.
  2. Schrader, Heinrich Adolf (1794). Spicilegium Florae Germanicae. Hannover: Ritscher. p. 108.
  3. Ulloa, Miguel; Aguirre-Acosta, Elvira (2020). Illustrated Generic Names of Fungi. APS press. p. 390. ISBN   978-0-89054-618-5.
  4. Jones, E.B. Gareth; Suetrong, Satinee; Sakayaroj, Jariya; Bahkali, Ali H.; Abdel-Wahab, Mohamed A.; Boekhout, Teun; Pang, Ka-Lai (2015). "Classification of marine Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota and Chytridiomycota". Fungal Diversity. 73 (1): 1–72 [13–14]. doi:10.1007/s13225-015-0339-4. S2CID   38469033.
  5. Ahmadjian, V. (1 March 1995). "Lichens are more important than you think". BioScience. 45 (3): 1. doi:10.1093/bioscience/45.3.124 . Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  6. Morton, O. 1988. Lichens on Lighthouse Island. Copeland Bird Observatory Annual Report for 1986 p.44