''Porpidia submelinodes'' is a species of
saxicolous (rock-dwelling),
crustose lichen in the family
Lecideaceae.
Found in the
South Shetland Islands of Antarctica, it was
formally described as a new species in 2011 by lichenologists Piotr Osyczka and Maria Olech. The
type specimen was collected from
Penguin Island, where it was found growing on a
volcanic boulder. The lichen has a rusty orange
thallus comprising distinct rounded
areoles surrounded by deep cracks, and an inconspicuous black
prothallus. It has
soralia
Soredia are common reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria o ...
that are black with a whitish rim. All examined specimens were sterile, producing neither
apothecia nor
pycnidia. All chemical
spot tests are negative, and the species does not contain any
lichen products detectable with
thin-layer chromatography. The
species epithet refers to its similarity with ''
Porpidia melinodes
''Porpidia'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Lecideaceae.
Taxonomy
''Porpidia'' was circumscribed by the German lichenologist Gustav Wilhelm Körber in 1855, with ''Porpidia trullisata'' designated as the type species.
Species
...
''.
''
Zwackhiomyces martinatianus'' is a
lichenicolous fungus that has been recorded growing on ''Porpidia submelinodes''.
References
Lecideales
Lichen species
Lichens described in 2011
Lichens of Antarctica
{{Lecanoromycetes-stub