''Verrucaria'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of lichenized (
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...]
in the family
Verrucariaceae
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 ( ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus was
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 ...
by German botanist
Heinrich Adolph Schrader
Heinrich Adolf Schrader (1 January 1767 in Alfeld near Hildesheim – 22 October 1836 in Göttingen) was a German botanist and mycologist. He studied medicine early in life. He named the Australian plant genus ''Hakea'' in 1797.
In 1795 he re ...
in 1794, with ''
Verrucaria rupestris'' assigned as the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
. In his brief diagnosis of the genus, Schrader mentioned the more or less spherical (''subglobose''), closed ascomata, and the
crustose
Crustose is a habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the substrates at all points. ''Crustose'' is found on rocks and ...
thallus.
The genus name is derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''verruca'' (meaning "wart") and the suffix ''-aria'' (meaning "belonging to" or "possession").
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''.
Species
* ''
Verrucaria ahtii'' – Finland
* ''
Verrucaria kiyosumiensis'' – Japan
* ''
Verrucaria nigrescens
''Verrucaria nigrescens'' is a widespread species of crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It was first species description, formally described as a new species by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1795. The lichen produces a very dark brown ...
'' – widespread
* ''
Verrucaria oulankaensis'' – Finland
* ''
Verrucaria rhizicola'' – France
* ''
Verrucaria rupestris''
* ''
Verrucaria serpuloides'' – a permanently submerged marine lichen in Antarctica
* ''
Verrucaria takagoensis'' – Japan
* ''
Verrucaria vitikainenii'' – Finland
Distribution
''Verrucaria ditmarsica'' has been recorded in 1984 from the Lighthouse Island,
Copeland Island,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
[Morton, O. 1988. Lichens on Lighthouse Island. Copeland Bird Observatory Annual Report for 1986 p.44]
See also
* ''
Hydropunctaria maura'', formerly ''Verrucaria maura'', one of the most widespread lichens on the European littoral zone and found worldwide
References
Eurotiomycetes genera
Lichen genera
Taxa described in 1794
Taxa named by Heinrich Schrader (botanist)
{{Eurotiomycetes-stub