''Sclerococcum'' 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 ...

lichenicolous fungi A lichenicolous fungus is a member of a specialised group of fungi that live exclusively on lichens as their host (biology), host organisms. These fungi, comprising over 2,000 known species across 280 genera, exhibit a wide range of ecological st ...

in the family Dactylosporaceae.

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 ...

in 1825 by

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

. 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 ...

is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by

Erik Acharius Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus. Life Ac ...

(as ''Spiloma sphaerale''). This fungus is a

lichenicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

hyphomycete Hyphomycetes are a form classification of fungi, part of what has often been referred to as fungi imperfecti, Deuteromycota, or anamorphic fungi. Hyphomycetes lack closed fruit bodies, and are often referred to as moulds (or molds). Most hyphomy ...

– a

mould A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi ...

that lives on a

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 ...

. Most of the ''Sclerococcum'' species described since then are also lichenicolous, and most have a restricted host range.

Molecular phylogenetics 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 ...

analysis published in 2012 showed that ''Sclerococcum sphaerale'' grouped together in a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with species of ''Dactylospora'' in the class

Eurotiomycetes Eurotiomycetes is a large class of ascomycetes with cleistothecial ascocarps within the subphylum Pezizomycotina, currently containing around 3810 species according to the Catalogue of Life. It is the third largest lichenized class, with more th ...

. In 2016, Réblová and colleagues proposed a new family Sclerococcaceae in a new order (Sclerococcales) to accommodate the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

''Sclerococcum'', ''Dactylospora'', '' Rhopalophora'', three strains of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

-associated fungi, and an isolate of '' Fusichalara minuta''. This classification was not accepted in the 2017 ''Outline of the Ascomycota'', which retained the family Dactylosporaceae.

Species

*''

Sclerococcum acarosporae ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum acarosporicola ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum aeruginosum ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum ahtii ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum allantoideum ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum amygdalariae ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum anziae ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum aptrootii ''Sclerococcum aptrootii'' is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the family Dactylosporaceae. Found in Puerto Rico, it was formally described as a new species in 2015 by Belgian mycologist Paul Diederich. The type specimen was collected in M ...

'' *''

Sclerococcum areolatum ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *'' Sclerococcum arthrobotryinum'' *'' Sclerococcum aspiciliicola'' *'' Sclerococcum athallinum'' *'' Sclerococcum attendendum'' *'' Sclerococcum australe'' *'' Sclerococcum bloxamii'' *''

Sclerococcum boreale ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *'' Sclerococcum caledonicum'' *''

Sclerococcum canariense ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is ''Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally speci ...

'' *'' Sclerococcum cladoniicola'' *'' Sclerococcum crassitunicatum'' *'' Sclerococcum crassum'' *'' Sclerococcum davidii'' *'' Sclerococcum deminutum'' *'' Sclerococcum dendriscostictae'' – India *'' Sclerococcum dobrowolskii'' *'' Sclerococcum epicladonia'' *'' Sclerococcum epimyces'' *'' Sclerococcum epiphytorum'' *'' Sclerococcum ewersii'' – Australia *'' Sclerococcum fissurinae'' –

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Macaronesia Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of list of islands in the Atlantic Oc ...

*''

Sclerococcum olivaceum ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' *'' Sclerococcum ophthalmizae'' *'' Sclerococcum orygmaeum'' *'' Sclerococcum parasitaster'' *''

Sclerococcum parasiticum ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is ''Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally speci ...

'' *'' Sclerococcum parellarium'' *'' Sclerococcum pertusariicola'' *'' Sclerococcum phaeophysciae'' *'' Sclerococcum phyllobaeis'' *'' Sclerococcum physciae'' – India *'' Sclerococcum pleiospermum'' *'' Sclerococcum polysporum'' *'' Sclerococcum porphyreum'' *'' Sclerococcum protothallinum'' *'' Sclerococcum pseudourceolatum'' *''

Sclerococcum purpurascens ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10664063 Lecanorales Lecanorales genera Lichenicolous fungi Taxa described in 1819 Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries