''Hueidea'' is a fungal

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 ...

in the family

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family (biology), family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class (taxonomy), class Lecanoromycetes in the division (botany), division Ascomycota. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, althoug ...

. 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 '' Hueidea australiensis'', a

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),

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

found on

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

rocks in the

Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko ( ; ; Ngarigo: ) is the highest mountain of the mainland Australia, at above sea level. It is located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, a part of the Australian Alps National Parks and ...

area of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Both the species and the genus were described as new to science in 2003 by the Australian lichenologists

Gintaras Kantvilas Gintaras Kantvilas (born 1956) is an Australian lichenologist, who earned his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Tasmania with a thesis entitled ''Studies on Tasmanian rainforest lichens''. He has authored over 432 species names, and 167 gene ...

and Patrick McCarthy. An additional five species were added to the genus in 2024.

Taxonomy

''Hueidea'' was erected in 2003 by

and Patrick M. McCarthy to accommodate the alpine Australian

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

''H. australiensis''. On the basis of its thick-walled, (i.e., and lacking ) apothecia and the absence of

anthraquinone Anthraquinone, also called anthracenedione or dioxoanthracene, is an aromatic hydrocarbon, aromatic organic compound with formula . Several isomers exist but these terms usually refer to 9,10-anthraquinone (IUPAC: 9,10-dioxoanthracene) wherein th ...

pigments, the authors placed the genus in the family

Fuscideaceae Fuscideaceae is a family of fungi that form symbiotic relationships with algae to create lichens. These lichens typically have a crust-like appearance and are found worldwide, though they are most common in temperate regions. The family include ...

(

Umbilicariales The Umbilicariales are an order of lichenized fungi in the subclass Umbilicariomycetidae, class Lecanoromycetes. It contains five families: Elixiaceae, Fuscideaceae, Ophioparmaceae, Ropalosporaceae, and Umbilicariaceae. Umbilicariales was pr ...

), albeit with some reservations. Their cautious assessment reflected the fact that no molecular data were then available.

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

analyses using various

molecular marker In molecular biology and other fields, a molecular marker is a molecule, sampled from some source, that gives information about its source. For example, DNA is a molecular marker that gives information about the organism from which it was taken. ...

s published in 2024 demonstrated that ''Hueidea'' is actually nested within the

, subfamily Caloplacoideae, where it forms a strongly supported

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 ...

that is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to '' Lendemeriella''. The same study revealed that the Antarctic genus ''Huea'' is congeneric with ''Hueidea''. ''Huea'', originally proposed in 1938, contained some anthraquinone-lacking Antarctic species with black apothecia featuring a carbonaceous (blackened) exciple and a bright blue . Because the nomenclatural committee for fungi has since recommended formal rejection of ''Huea'', ''Hueidea'' now provides the correct name for that lineage. Morphologically, members of the genus are united by lecideine apothecia whose and are impregnated with the insoluble emerald pigment ; anthraquinones (the orange-red Teloschistaceae pigments) are present only in ''H. coeruleofrigida''. Following these findings, the

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

of the genus was broadened to include five Antarctic and sub-Antarctic taxa formerly assigned to ''Huea''—''H. cerussata'', ''H. grisea'', ''H. coeruleofrigida'', the

soredia Soredia are common reproduction, reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens asexual reproduction, reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungus, fung ...

te ''H. sorediata'', and the newly described Kerguelen endemic ''H. austroaquatica''—bringing the genus to six accepted species. Numerous African and Indian-Ocean names that were historically transferred to ''Huea'' (e.g., ''H. albidocoerulescens'', ''H. diphyella'') are retained in their original combinations pending molecular and chemical study, as current evidence suggests they do not belong in ''Hueidea''.

Species

* '' Hueidea australiensis'' * '' Hueidea austroaquatica'' * '' Hueidea cerussata'' * '' Hueidea coeruleofrigida'' * '' Hueidea grisea'' * '' Hueidea sorediata''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5929208 Teloschistales Teloschistales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 2003 Taxa named by Gintaras Kantvilas