''Lecanographa imitans'' is a rare species of lichenicolous (

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 ...

-dwelling)

fungus 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

Lecanographaceae ''Lecanographaceae'' is a family of mostly lichens (also some lichenicolous fungi) in the order Arthoniales. The family was circumscribed in 2014, prompted by a molecular phylogenetic-based restructuring of the Arthoniales. Taxonomy The fami ...

. Found on the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

, it was described as new to science in 2003 by Birgit Werner and Gerhard Follman. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

specimen was collected on

Baltra Island Baltra Island () is a small island in the Galápagos Archipelago in Ecuador. It is a small flat island located near the center of the chain and includes Seymour Airport (GPS), originally established by the United States Air Force to help monito ...

, north of

Santa Cruz Island Santa Cruz Island (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Isla Santa Cruz'', Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Limuw'') is located off the southwestern coast of Ventura, California, United States. It is the largest island in California and largest of the ei ...

, in January 1929. The fungus grows specifically on the

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 ...

of ''

Roccella gracilis ''Roccella gracilis'' is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Roccellaceae. Flourishing in coastal environments, ''Roccella gracilia'' predominantly grows along the coasts of Baja California and the Galápagos Islands, preferring the tr ...

'', a

fruticose lichen A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or m ...

. The

species epithet Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) ...

''imitans'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "imitating" or "mimicking") refers to the potential confusion of its

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) with the true fructifications of its host lichen. ''Lecanographa imitans'' is characterised by its

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

nature, causing discoloured widenings and swellings on the branches of ''R. humboldtiana''. It produces scattered to aggregate ascomata, initially and later , measuring 0.2–0.5 mm in diameter. The fungus causes significant alterations to its host's structure, including changes in the cortical

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 arrangement and . ''L. imitans'' belongs to the ''L. grumulosa'' group but shows unique features, including persistent false around its ascomata and larger, mostly six-celled . The species is known only from Baltra and Pinzón islands in the Galápagos Archipelago, where it inhabits the humid coastal areas, primarily on

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s and

sclerophyllous Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

shrubs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21273270 Lecanographaceae Fungus species Fungi described in 2003 Fungi of the Galápagos Islands Lichenicolous fungi