''Sigridea labyrinthica'' is a species of

lichenicolous A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific t ...

( lichen-dwelling)

fungus A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

in the family

Arthoniaceae The Arthoniaceae are a family of lichenized, lichenicolous and saprobic fungi in the order Arthoniales. The Arthoniaceae is the largest family of Arthoniales, with around 800 species. Most species in Arthoniaceae belong in '' Arthonia'' which is ...

. Discovered on the Pacific coast of Chile, it was formally described as a new species in 2003 by Gerhard Follman, who first classified it in the genus ''

Plectocarpon ''Plectocarpon'' is a genus of lichens in the family Lecanographaceae. Species *'' Plectocarpon aequatoriale'' *'' Plectocarpon bunodophori'' *'' Plectocarpon concentricum'' *'' Plectocarpon coppinsii'' *'' Plectocarpon cristalliferum'' *'' ...

''. Damien Ertz and Paul Diederich transferred it to the genus ''

Sigridea ''Sigridea'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Roccellaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Anders Tehler in Cryptog. bot. vol.3 (2) on page 145 in 1993. The genus name of ''Sigridea'' is in honour of Sigrid Tehler, who was the daug ...

'' in 2005. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

was collected at Punta Caraumilla, Bahia Laguna Verde, southwest of

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

, on September 15, 1968, by . The fungus grows specifically on the

thallus Thallus (plural: 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. Many of these organisms ...

of '' Roccella portentosa'', 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 ...

commonly found along the rocky Pacific coast. 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, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) A botanical name ...

''labyrinthicum'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "labyrinthine" or "intricate") refers to the maze-like appearance of its

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external Tissue (biology), tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissu ...

-forming

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (), 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. Ascocarps are mo ...

(fruiting bodies). ''Sigridea labyrinthica'' is characterised by its distinctive fructifications, forming flattened

s measuring 0.9–3.8 mm in horizontal diameter and 0.4–1.2 mm in vertical diameter on its host. These galls have a labyrinthine surface reminiscent of '' Chiodecton dilatatum'', subdivided into multiform loculi by whitish, striae of stromatic . The fungus produces but caudate asci containing eight

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

, almost , four-celled . ''Sigridea labyrinthica'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

coastland of the Pacific-Andean province of South America, ranging from approximately 30° to 34° south latitude. This species is of particular interest to lichenologists due to its unique gall-forming nature and its specific association with ''R. portentosa'', a lichen historically used for textile

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

production.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21327464 , from2=Q21304526 Roccellaceae Fungus species Fungi described in 2003 Fungi of South America Lichenicolous fungi