Verrucaria

For a synonym of a genus of plants, see Myriopus.

Verrucaria is a genus of lichenized (lichen-forming) fungi in the family Verrucariaceae.^[1]

Verrucaria
Verrucaria nigrescens, Schwäbische Alb, Germany
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Eurotiomycetes
Order:	Verrucariales
Family:	Verrucariaceae
Genus:	Verrucaria Shrad. (1794)
Type species
Verrucaria rupestris Shrad. (1794)
Species
about 150 accepted species
Synonyms
Trimmatothele Norman ex Zahlbr. (1903)

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed by German botanist Heinrich Adolph Schrader in 1794, with Verrucaria rupestris assigned as the type species. In his brief diagnosis of the genus, Schrader mentioned the more or less spherical (subglobose), closed ascomata, and the crustose thallus.^[2] The genus name is derived from the Latin word verruca (meaning "wart") and the suffix -aria (meaning "belonging to" or "possession").^[3]

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.^[4]

Species

Main article: List of Verrucaria species

• Verrucaria ahtii – Finland
• Verrucaria kiyosumiensis – Japan
• Verrucaria nigrescens – widespread
• Verrucaria oulankaensis – Finland
• Verrucaria rhizicola – France
• Verrucaria rupestris
• Verrucaria serpuloides – a permanently submerged marine lichen in Antarctica^[5]
• Verrucaria takagoensis – Japan
• Verrucaria vitikainenii – Finland

Distribution

Verrucaria ditmarsica has been recorded in 1984 from the Lighthouse Island, Copeland Island, County Down, Northern Ireland.^[6]

See also

• Hydropunctaria maura, formerly Verrucaria maura, one of the most widespread lichens on the European littoral zone and found worldwide

References

1. Gueidan C, Roux C, Lutzoni F (2007). "Using a multigene phylogenetic analysis to assess generic delineation and character evolution in Verrucariaceae (Verrucariales, Ascomycota)". Mycological Research. 111 (Pt 10): 1145–68. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.08.010. PMID 17981450.
2. Schrader, Heinrich Adolf (1794). Spicilegium Florae Germanicae. Hannover: Ritscher. p. 108.
3. Ulloa, Miguel; Aguirre-Acosta, Elvira (2020). Illustrated Generic Names of Fungi. APS press. p. 390. ISBN 978-0-89054-618-5.
4. Jones, E.B. Gareth; Suetrong, Satinee; Sakayaroj, Jariya; Bahkali, Ali H.; Abdel-Wahab, Mohamed A.; Boekhout, Teun; Pang, Ka-Lai (2015). "Classification of marine Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota and Chytridiomycota". Fungal Diversity. 73 (1): 1–72 [13–14]. doi:10.1007/s13225-015-0339-4. S2CID 38469033.
5. Ahmadjian, V. (1 March 1995). "Lichens are more important than you think". BioScience. 45 (3): 1. doi:10.1093/bioscience/45.3.124. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
6. Morton, O. 1988. Lichens on Lighthouse Island. Copeland Bird Observatory Annual Report for 1986 p.44