''Variospora aegaea'' 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 ...

. First identified from Greek islands in the Aegean Sea (after which it is named), and has since been recorded in Italy and Spain.

Taxonomy

The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2002 in Dutch lichenologist

Harrie Sipman Henricus (Harrie) Johannes Maria Sipman (born 1945) is a Dutch lichenologist. He specialises in tropical and subtropical lichens, and has authored or co-authored more than 250 scientific publications. He was the curator of the lichen herbarium ...

. The type specimen was collected from Paros (in the Cyclades archipelago), at an altitude of . There the lichen was found growing on west- and south-facing schistose rock outcrops. The lichen was named for its Greek distribution, as it was first recorded from Paros, Antiparos, and Kalymnos, which are Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. It was transferred to the newly

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

genus ''

Variospora ''Variospora'' is a genus of crustose lichens, belonging to the family Teloschistaceae. The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 2013 by Ulf Arup, Ulrik Søchting, and Patrik Frödén. Species *''Variospora aegaea'' *''Vario ...

'' in 2013 following a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the family

Description

''Variospora aegaea'' has a yellowish to brownish-orange thallus that is placodioid with an areolate centre and a lobed margin. The individuals areoles are convex and measure about 0.2–0.4 mm wide. The lobes on the margin are about 1–1.5 mm long and 0.2–0.3 mm wide, and have a loose attachment to its substrate;. The width of the upper cortex ranges between 20 and 60

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 ...

. The algal layer (containing the photobiont partner), about 100 μm thick, contains scattered bundles of periclinal

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or ...

e. Apothecia are frequent on the thallus surface; they are rounded, typically measuring 0.4–0.8 μm in diameter. They have a distinct margin (about 0.1 mm wide), and a somewhat darker disc. The ascospores, which number 8 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 ...

, 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 ...

, and polarilocular (divided into two polar components). They initially have an

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 ...

shape before widening with a widened

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 ...

, reaching dimensions of 10–15 by 9–11 μm, with a septum that is 4–5 μm thick.

Habitat and distribution

''Variospora aegaea'' occurs mostly on the horizontal faces of rocks and boulders at altitudes between , usually at locations not far from the sea. It has been found in Paros, Antiparos and Kalimnos in the Aegean Sea, as well as Sardinia, Italy, and in southeastern Spain.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q25364176 Teloschistales Lichen species Lichens described in 2002 Lichens of Europe Taxa named by Harrie Sipman