''Caloplaca lecapustulata'' is a species of
saxicolous (rock-dwelling),
crustose lichen in the family
Teloschistaceae
The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family, estimated to contain over 1800 species, was extensively revised in 2013, including the creation o ...
.
Found in Brazil, it was described as a new species in 2016.
Taxonomy
''Caloplaca lecapustulata'' was
formally described as a new species by the lichenologists
André Aptroot
André Aptroot (Heemskerk, 1961) is a Dutch mycologist and lichenologist.
In 1993 he did his PhD at the University of Utrecht under the supervision of Robbert Gradstein (nl). His dissertation was titled "Systematic studies on pyrenocarpous li ...
and Marcela Cáceres. The
type specimen was collected by the authors in Brazil, within the state of
Ceará
Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...
at
Açude Cedro, specifically along the trail of Pedra da Galinha. This collection took place on a
gneiss inselberg (an isolated hill rising abruptly from a plain) within the
Caatinga biome, at an elevation of about above sea level.
Description
''Caloplaca lecapustulata'' is characterised by a crustose (crust-like), , and slightly shiny
thallus (the main body of the lichen) that is grey in colour. It features (small, distinct areas) that can appear (blistered) to somewhat flattened or slightly folded, ranging from round to angular shapes, each about 0.2 to 1.0 mm in diameter, situated on a black base layer known as the . The thickness of the thallus is approximately 100 to 220
μm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
, with a loosely structured
medulla (internal layer) and a cortex (outer layer) that is (composed of tightly packed cells) and contains tiny crystals of a substance called
atranorin, measuring about 10 to 18 μm thick. The lichen houses algae, with cells measuring about 6 to 11 μm in diameter. This species does not produce vegetative
propagule
In biology, a propagule is any material that functions in propagating an organism to the next stage in its life cycle, such as by dispersal. The propagule is usually distinct in form from the parent organism. Propagules are produced by organisms ...
s (asexual reproductive structures).
The
apothecia (fruiting bodies) of ''Caloplaca lecapustulata'' are numerous, spread out, and (attached directly by their base), with a concave, chocolate brown, glossy that ranges from 0.4 to 1.0 mm in diameter and 0.3 to 0.7 mm in height. The margins are grey, glossy, and incurved with some incisions, significantly elevated above the disc and about 0.2 mm wide. Similar to the thallus, the cortex around the margin of the apothecium is filled with atranorin crystals, and the medulla in this area contains algae. The
hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...
(spore-bearing layer) is about 75 to 95 μm high, with a colourless (outer layer of the apothecium), a clear (base layer below the hymenium) measuring about 50 to 75 μm high, and a brown (top layer of the hymenium) about 7 to 12 μm high. The
paraphyses
Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis.
In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...
(filamentous structures within the hymenium) are sparingly branched at the tips and widen towards the end.
The , numbering eight per
ascus
An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...
(spore-producing sac), are
hyaline
A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none.
Histopathology
Hyaline cartilage is ...
(transparent),
ellipsoid
An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation.
An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...
in shape, and measure 10.0 to 12.5) by 5.0 to 5.5 μm. They are about twice as long as they are wide, with a
septum
In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; plural septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate.
Examples
Human anatomy
* Interatri ...
(dividing partition) that is about 5.0 to 5.5 μm thick, occupying roughly half the length of the ascospore.
Pycnidia (asexual reproductive structures that produce