''Waynea cretica'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling),

squamulose lichen A squamulose lichen is a lichen that is composed of small, often overlapping "scales" called squamules. If they are raised from the substrate and appear leafy, the lichen may appear to be a foliose lichen, but the underside does not have a "ski ...

in the family

Ramalinaceae The Ramalinaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. The family name is synonymous with the name ''Bacidiaceae''. Species of this family have a widespread distribution. Genera *''Aciculopsora'' *''Adelolecia'' *'' Arthro ...

. It occurs on the Greek island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and in Portugal.

Taxonomy

The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2006 by Esteve Llop. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

was collected by the author in the Diktamo gorge (Keramies,

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

); there, at an elevation of about , it was found growing on a Cretan maple tree (''Acer sempervirens''). The species epithet refers to the type locality.

Description

''Waynea cretica'' has an olivaceous to greyish-green, dull

thallus Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...

with squamules measuring 0.125–0.75 mm wide. It does not have a

prothallus A prothallus, or prothallium, (from Latin ''pro'' = forwards and Greek ''θαλλος'' (''thallos'') = twig) is usually the gametophyte stage in the life of a fern or other pteridophyte. Occasionally the term is also used to describe the young ...

. The

photobiont A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

, which are present in a layer (benaeth the hypothecium) that is 25–50

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 ...

thick containing spherical green cells with diameters between 5 and 10 μm. The

medulla Medulla or Medullary may refer to: Science * Medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem * Renal medulla, a part of the kidney * Adrenal medulla, a part of the adrenal gland * Medulla of ovary, a stroma in the center of the ovary * Medulla of th ...

, measuring 15 μm thick, is made of loosely interwoven

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 ...

Apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...

are

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

s are colourless, long and needle-shaped (''acicular''), typically with 7

septa The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

, and measure 29–41 by 1.6–2.2 μm. Like other species of ''

Waynea ''Waynea'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. It was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1990 by Swedish taxonomist Roland Moberg, with ''Waynea californica, W. californica'' assigned as the type species. Sp ...

'', it contains the

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

called Sedifolia-grey in the upper part of 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 ...

; this pigment is also present in the outer exciple (the rim of the apothecia) and the upper

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

. ''

Waynea algarvensis ''Waynea algarvensis'' is a rare species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) squamulose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae. Native to the Algarve province in Portugal, it was formally described as a new species in 2012. Closely related to '' Waynea ...

'', described from Portugal in 2012, is similar in

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

. It can be distinguished from ''Waynea cretica'' by its minute thallus parts (up to 5 mm), and its shorter squamules. ''Waynea algarvensis'' has only been recorded on ''Quercus rotundifolia''.

Habitat and distribution

On Crete, ''Waynea cretica'' is found in the thermo- to the meso-mediterranean belts at altitudes between . These regions typically contain humid forest communities in

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

s. The lichen has been recorded on the bark of ''Acer sempervirens'', Old World sycamore (''Platanus orientalis''), and

kermes oak ''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak, is an oak bush in the ''Ilex'' section of the genus. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, south to north from Morocco to France and west to east from Portugal to Cyprus an ...

(''Quercus coccifera''). ''Waynea cretica'' has since been recorded in several location in

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

, Portugal.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17388441 Ramalinaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 2006 Lichens of Southwestern Europe Lichens of Greece