''Sipmanidea'' is a small

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 ...

fungi 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

Gomphillaceae The Gomphillaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Graphidales. Species in this family are found mostly in tropical regions. The family underwent a major molecular phylogenetics-led reorganisation in 2023, in which 17 genera were ...

. It comprises two species of leaf-dwelling lichens.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 2023 by Amanda Xavier-Leite, Marcela Cáceres, and

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist, known for his extensive research on foliicolous lichens (lichens that live on leaves) and his significant contributions to the taxonomy, ecology, and biodiversity of fungi and lichens. He e ...

. The type species of the genus is ''Sipmanidea neotropica'', which was originally described as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of ''Echinoplaca furcata''.

Molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis revealed that species previously classified within ''Echinoplaca'' actually formed two distinct

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 ...

s, leading to the establishment of ''Sipmanidea'' as a separate genus. The genus was named in honour of

Harrie Sipman Henricus (Harrie) Johannes Maria Sipman (born 1945) is a retired Dutch lichenologist who specialised in tropical and subtropical lichens and authored or co-authored over 250 scientific publications. He was the curator of the lichen herbarium at ...

, a prominent tropical lichenologist known for his work on

foliicolous lichen A foliicolous lichen is a lichen which grows on the surfaces of living leaves of vascular plants, usually inhabiting the upper surface (''epiphyllous'') but sometimes also the lower surface (''hypophyllous''). Foliicolous lichens largely occur in ...

s. The genus differs from related genera in several ways, particularly in its apothecial

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and the characteristics of its ascospores. ''S. neotropica'' is distinguished from related species by its (crater-shaped) apothecia, while other species such as ''S. furcata'' display more echinoplacoid apothecia with a slightly raised .

Description

''Sipmanidea'' lichens are small organisms that grow on the surface of living leaves in tropical forests. Their most distinctive features can be observed at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. The main body (

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 these lichens appears as a rough, warty crust on the leaf surface. It often has a whitish, frosted appearance, similar to a light dusting of powder. One of the most charactersitic features is the presence of delicate, white, branching hair-like structures () that emerge from a clear or translucent base layer () that spreads across the leaf surface. The reproductive organs (

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 ...

) of ''Sipmanidea'' are orange in colour and either emerge from the surface () or sit flat against it (). These structures are often rimmed with a white, crystalline coating made up of tiny needle-shaped crystals. Under a microscope, the spores () can be seen to have multiple compartments divided by both vertical and horizontal walls, creating a or "brick-wall" pattern. Microscopic features in the genus include specialised reproductive structures called , which are pale yellow and shaped like bristles. Another distinctive feature is the presence of specialised fungal threads () that come in two forms: thick and thin. The thin threads end in swollen segments that resemble sperm cells, a characteristic that helps distinguish this genus from its relatives. When examined microscopically, these lichens reveal several distinct layers: a colourless outer layer (excipulum) made up of fungal threads; a clear supporting tissue () with densely packed, parallel fungal threads; and an upper layer () that appears yellowish-brown and has a granular texture. These features, particularly the combination of branched setae, crystalline coating, and specialised reproductive structures, make ''Sipmanidea'' distinct from other closely related lichen genera.

Species

* '' Sipmanidea furcata'' * '' Sipmanidea neotropica''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q131465624 Gomphillaceae Graphidales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 2023 Taxa named by Marcela Cáceres Taxa named by Robert Lücking