''Enterographa dokdoensis'' is a species of

saxicolous 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 ...

(rock-dwelling), script lichen in the family

Roccellaceae The Roccellaceae are a family (biology), family of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the order Arthoniales, established by the French botanist François Fulgis Chevallier in 1826. Species in the family exhibit various lichen growth forms, growth ...

. It occurs in South Korea. The lichen has a

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 ...

that can cover areas up to 5–10 cm in diameter, with a smooth to roughened texture and a green-grey to mauve colour.

Taxonomy

''Enterographa dokdoensis'' was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

as a new species in 2020 by lichenologists

Sergey Kondratyuk Sergey Yakovlevich Kondratyuk () (born 17 May 1959) is a Ukrainian botanist specialising in lichenology. His research deals with the taxonomy, floristics, ecology and geography of lichens and lichenicolous fungi. He has worked at the for mo ...

, Lőkös, Beeyoung-Gun Lee, and Jae-Seoun Hur. The

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

of ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' was collected by the third author from the

Liancourt Rocks The Liancourt Rocks, known in Korea as Dokdo () and in Japan as Takeshima (), are a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago administered by South Korea. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...

in the Republic of Korea, specifically on the Eastern (Dokdo) Islet. This collection was made at the seashore, on the left side of the dock, where the lichen was found growing on rocks alongside '' Opegrapha ulleungdoensis''. The elevation of the site is about 5 meters above sea level. The

naming Naming is assigning a name to something. Naming may refer to: * Naming (parliamentary procedure), a procedure in certain parliamentary bodies * Naming ceremony, an event at which an infant is named * Product naming, the discipline of deciding wha ...

of ''dokdoensis'' alludes to its type locality – Dokdo (Eastern) Island of the Dokdo Islands in South Korea.

Description

The

of ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' can cover areas up to in diameter or even larger. The thallus has a smooth to texture, a green-grey to

mauve Mauve ( ; ) is a pale purple color named after the mallow flower (French: ). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–1798 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare before 1859. ...

colour, and can reach a thickness of up to 200

μm The micrometre (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 unit of length in the International System ...

. Occasionally, the thallus may display soredious spots. The of this species is '' Trentepohlia'', with algal cells measuring 6.4–9.6 μm in diameter. The of ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' is typically indistinct or absent. The

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body (sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded ascus, asci, each of which typically contains four to ...

(fruiting bodies) of this lichen are open and shortly , sometimes branching, and measure 0.1–0.2 by 0.2–1.2 mm. They are rarely

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 ...

and not embedded in a . The of the ascomata is mostly pale brown, occasionally darkening to a dark brownish hue, and is not . The can be up to 32–50 μm wide. The is very thin, ranging from 12 to 20 μm in width, and appears pale or yellowish. The is

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

and measures 25–50 μm in height. 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 oth ...

is also hyaline and reaches a height of 50–60 μm. within the hymenium are 0.8–1.0 mm wide, with their apices branching and anastomosing, particularly in the upper part, and expanding to about 15 μm wide. The is 2–5 μm thick and contains yellowish crystals that are 2–5 μm in diameter. The asci of ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' are cylindrical and contain eight spores. These ascospores are (threadlike) and not curved, typically with 3–5

septa SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

, measuring 20.8–30.4 by 1.6–3.5 μm, and are surrounded by a thin . The are (point-like), up to 0.1 mm in diameter, and immersed in the thallus. They appear yellowish or brownish, with a pale yellowish wall in section. The are (threadlike) and curved, measuring 12–20 by 0.8 μm. Chemically, the thallus of ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' reacts C+ (red), is K− and PD−, and UV+ (pale cream) to standard spot tests.

Gyrophoric acid Gyrophoric acid is a tridepside. It is a double ester of the orsellinic acid. It can also be found in most of the species of the lichen genera '' Actinogyra'', '' Lasallia'', and '' Umbilicaria'' . Natural occurrence and biosynthesis Gyropho ...

is present in this species.

Similar species

''Enterographa dokdoensis'' shares several characteristics with other species of the genus '' Enterographa'', yet it can be distinguished by specific features. It is similar to the

pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical' ...

species '' E. leucolyta'', which typically grows on shaded, coastal

volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...

s. However, ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' differs in having a lower hymenium (50–60 μm vs. 120 μm), somewhat narrower and longer ascospores (20–30.5 by 1.6–3.5 μm vs. 18–27 by 2.5–4 μm), and shorter conidia (12–20 μm vs. 20–25 μm long). There was a previous record of ''E. leucolyta'' from South Korea's Geumodo Island that might pertain to ''Enterographa dokdoensis''. This is due to the much higher hymenium (120–130 μm) in the recorded specimens, which is unlike the typical hymenium height of ''E. leucolyta'' (55–100 μm). Additionally, ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' resembles the Australian epiphytic species ''E. divergens'' in its very thin, smooth or slightly wrinkled thallus. However, it differs in having a light whitish-grey thallus (as opposed to brownish-grey), indistinct apothecia, a light brown disc (instead of black), and shorter, narrower ascospores that are 3–5-septate (measuring 20.8–30.4 by 1.6–3.5 μm vs. 24–32 by 3–4 μm, 7-septate). ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' is similar to '' E. praepallens'' from Japan, especially in the appearance of its apothecia and disc colour. It differs in having a thinner whitish-grey thallus and a lower hymenium. Its ascospores are almost the same as those of ''E. praepallens''. ''Enterographa dokdoensis'' can also be compared to '' E. anguinella'' from Japan and the Philippines. It is distinguished by its matt whitish-grey thallus (as opposed to grey to light ochre and slightly shiny), indistinct apothecia, and shorter, narrower ascospores that are 3–5-septate (20.8–30.4 by 1.6–3.5 μm vs. 22–38 by 3–4 μm, 7–9-septate).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q123983847 Roccellaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 2020 Lichens of Eastern Asia Taxa named by Sergey Kondratyuk Taxa named by Jae-Seoun Hur