''Paralecia'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

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

Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecanorales, comprising about 560 species distributed amongst 18 genera. This family is one of the largest among lichen-forming fungi and is globally distributed, from Arctic t ...

. It contains a single species, the

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

''Paralecia pratorum'', found in Europe.

Taxonomy

Both the species and the genus were described as new to science in 2015 by Wolfgang von Brackel, Katrin Greiner, Derek Peršoh, and Gerhard Rambold. 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 ...

was collected in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy, in Prati di Logarghena above the city of

Pontremoli Pontremoli (; local ; ; ) is a small city, ''comune'' former Latin Catholic bishopric in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany region, central Italy. Literally translated, Pontremoli means "Trembling Bridge" (from ''ponte'' "bridge" and ''tre ...

. Here it was found growing on the lichen '' Protoparmeliopsis muralis'', which itself was growing on

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

ose rock outcrops in a meadow, at an altitude of . The genus name ''Paralecia'' combines ''para-'' (meaning "along with, beside") and ''lecia'', which refers to the lecideine

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 ...

produced by the fungus. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''pratorum'', which is derived from the

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 ...

''pratum'' (meaning "meadow"), alludes to the type locality – the meadows of Logarghena. Initially, the genus was tentatively placed in the family Squamarinaceae, because

DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

suggested a close relationship to genus '' Squamarina''. In 2018, Kraichak and colleagues revised the

Lecanoromycetes Lecanoromycetes is the largest class of lichenized fungi. It belongs to the subphylum Pezizomycotina in the phylum Ascomycota. The asci (spore-bearing cells) of the Lecanoromycetes most often release spores by rostrate dehiscence. The group is ...

to use temporal-based classification, and placed the Squamarinaceae in

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with the Cladoniaceae.

Description

''Paralecia pratorum'' is endothallic, meaning it grows within the tissue of its

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

. Its

eventually break through the

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

of its host; these structures are black, more or less round with a flattened to convex top, and measure 0.2–0.45 in diameter. The apothecia produce

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 that are

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 ...

(translucent),

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 ...

in shape, and typical have dimensions of 11.8–13.7 by 4.7–5.6

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 ...

. The fungus does not appear to harm its host, but causes the formation of new lobes, and somewhat inhibits the formation of host apothecia.

Distribution

In addition to its initial report from Italy, the fungus has subsequently been recorded from Montenegro and Sweden.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q106830028 Cladoniaceae Monotypic Lecanorales genera Taxa described in 2015 Lichenicolous fungi