''Polycauliona comandorica'' is a species of fruticulose (minutely shrubby)

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.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 ...

. It was formally described as a new species in 2021 by Dmitry Himelbrant, Irina Stepanchikova, and Ivan Frolov. The lichen is found in the

splash zone In offshore construction, the splash zone is the transition from air to water when lowering heavy burdens into the sea. The overall efforts applied on the crane change dramatically when the load starts touching water, up to the point where it is ...

of the Commander Islands in the Russian Far East; its

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''comandorica'' refers to its type locality. The type specimen was collected on

Medny Island Medny Island (russian: о́стров Ме́дный), also spelled ''Mednyy'' or ''Mednyi'', sometimes called Copper Island in English (literally translated from Russian), is the smaller (after Bering Island) of the two main islands in the Com ...

, under a colony of

horned puffin The horned puffin (''Fratercula corniculata'') is an auk found in the North Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Alaska, Siberia and British Columbia. It is a pelagic seabird that feeds primarily by diving for fish. It nests in colonies, often ...

s. A close association with seabird colonies is common to all of the known localities of this lichen species. Several

secondary compounds Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the norma ...

have been detected in the lichen, including parietin as a major compound, and minor to trace amounts of

parietinic acid Parietinic acid is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae. The substance was first reported in the literature by the German chemist Walter ...

, emodin,

citreorosein Citreorosein is a polyketide made by ''Penicillium'' that has antimicrobial activity. References {{reflist Polyketides Primary alcohols Trihydroxyanthraquinones ...

, emodinal, emodic acid,

fallacinal Fallacinal is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae. History In 1936, Japanese chemists Mitizo Asano and Sinobu Fuziwara reported on the ...

, and

teloschistin Fallacinol (teloschistin) is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in some lichens, particularly in the family Teloschistaceae, as well as a couple of plants and non lichen-forming fungi. In ...

. The fruticulose growth form is rather rare in the Teloschistaceae, with about a dozen examples known in the family of about one thousand species. ''P. comandorica'' is somewhat similar in morphology to '' P. thamnodes''; it is distinguished by its lighter yellow to grey thallus, its rougher, longer and thicker branches; its soredia and blastidia; and in the absence of apothecia.

References

Teloschistales Lichen species Lichens described in 2021 Lichens of the Russian Far East {{Teloschistales-stub