''Catinaria'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

-forming

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Ramalinaceae The Ramalinaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecanorales. First proposed by Carl Adolph Agardh in 1821, the family now comprises 63 genera and about 750 species. Ramalinaceae lichens exhibit diverse growth forms, includin ...

. These lichens form very thin, often barely visible crusts on bark, rock, or moss, and are recognizable by their small, round, reddish-brown to black fruiting bodies that sit flush with the surface. The genus includes eight known species, some of which grow specifically on

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

s and can behave almost like

decomposer Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organisms and release the nutrients from the dead matter into the environment around them. Decomposition relies on chemical processes similar to digestion in animals; in fact, many sources use the word ...

fungi.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by the Finnish lichenologist

Edvard August Vainio Edvard August Vainio (born Edvard Lang; 5 August 185314 May 1929) was a Finnish lichenology, lichenologist. His early works on the lichens of Lapland (Finland), Lapland, his three-volume monograph on the lichen genus ''Cladonia'', and, in part ...

in 1922, with '' Catinaria montana'' assigned as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

. Vainio's original description emphasized the genus's distinctive combination of features: a dark, crusty

thallus Thallus (: 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. A thallus usually names the entir ...

with a prominent raised margin, club-shaped spore-producing structures ( asci), and small elliptical

ascospore In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...

s measuring about 8–9

micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...

s long. He distinguished ''Catinaria'' from the closely related genus ''

Lecidea ''Lecidea'' is a genus of crustose lichen, crustose lichens with a carbon-black ring or outer margin (exciple) around the fruiting body disc (apothecium), usually (or always) found growing on (Saxicolous lichen, saxicolous) or in (Endolithic lich ...

'' based on these morphological characteristics, particularly the thallus structure and spore dimensions.

Description

''Catinaria'' species form very thin crusts on bark, rock or, in a few cases, directly on

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es, where the fungus can behave almost like a

saprotroph Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

. The surface is usually granular or broken into inconspicuous microscopic islands; in some specimens the

is so scant that it appears absent altogether. There is no protective outer skin () and the crust never produces the powdery reproductive patches (

soralia Soredia are common reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria or g ...

) common in many lichens, although one still-unnamed species develops tiny finger-like isidia. The

photosynthetic Photosynthesis ( ) is a Biological system, system of biological processes by which Photoautotrophism, photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical ener ...

partner is a globose green alga of the ''

Dictyochloropsis ''Dictyochloropsis'' is a genus of Unicellular organism, unicellular Green algae, green alga of the phylum Chlorophyta. This genus consists of Free-swimming, free-living algae which have a reticulate (net-like) chloroplast that varies slightly in ...

'' group. The sexual structures are small, round

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), 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. As ...

that sit flush with, or slightly raised above, the thallus. They begin reddish-brown and may darken to dull black with age. Because the apothecia lack a rim of thallus tissue, the merges directly into the —a cup wall built from radiating

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 o ...

e that is initially the same colour as the disc but may turn darker and eventually erode away. Inside, the spore layer is threaded by slender

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the f ...

whose tips swell slightly and often carry a coloured cap. The asci hold eight to sixteen

s; they are "''Catillaria''-type", meaning their upper dome

stains A stain is an unwanted localized discoloration, often in fabrics or textiles. Stain(s) or The Stain(s) may also refer to: Color * Stain (heraldry), a non-standard tincture * Staining, in biology, a technique used to highlight contrast in samples ...

a uniform blue in

iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

rather than showing a differentiated inlay. Spores are

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

, colourless and usually divided by a single

cross-wall A cross-wall is an interior dividing wall of a castle. It may be an external wall dividing, for example, the inner and outer wards, or it may be a wall internal to a building such as the keep.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Cas ...

(very rarely three); each is wrapped in a closely fitting gelatinous envelope () that remains clear under the microscope. No asexual

conidia A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an asexual, non- motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also ...

have yet been reported, and

thin-layer chromatography Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatography technique that separates components in non-volatile mixtures. It is performed on a TLC plate made up of a non-reactive solid coated with a thin layer of adsorbent material. This is called the sta ...

has so far failed to detect any diagnostic

lichen product Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deri ...

s. The combination of spores with a compact perispore and the simple, undifferentiated ascus apex separates ''Catinaria'' from superficially similar crustose genera such as '' Catillaria'', ''

Megalaria ''Megalaria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. It contains 44 species of crustose lichens, the majority of which grow on bark. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner in 19 ...

'' and '' Phyllopsora''.

Species

*'' Catinaria atropurpurea'' *''

Catinaria brodoana ''Catinaria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. These lichens form very thin, often barely visible crusts on bark, rock, or moss, and are recognizable by their small, round, reddish-brown to black fruiting bodies th ...

'' *''

Catinaria isidioides ''Catinaria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. These lichens form very thin, often barely visible crusts on bark, rock, or moss, and are recognizable by their small, round, reddish-brown to black fruiting bodies th ...

'' *'' Catinaria montana'' *'' Catinaria neuschildii'' *''

Catinaria occidentalis ''Catinaria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. These lichens form very thin, often barely visible crusts on bark, rock, or moss, and are recognizable by their small, round, reddish-brown to black fruiting bodies th ...

'' *''

Catinaria radulae ''Catinaria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. These lichens form very thin, often barely visible crusts on bark, rock, or moss, and are recognizable by their small, round, reddish-brown to black fruiting bodies th ...

'' *'' Catinaria subcorallina''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5053542 Ramalinaceae Lichen genera Lecanorales genera Taxa named by Edvard August Vainio Taxa described in 1922