Astrothelium neoinspersum

Astrothelium neoinspersum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae.[1] Found in El Salvador, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Dutch lichenologist André Aptroot. The type specimen was collected by Harrie Sipman from Montecristo National Park (Metapán, Santa Ana Department); there, it was found in a rainforest growing on smooth tree bark. The lichen has a smooth and somewhat shiny, olive-green thallus with a cortex but without a prothallus. It covers areas of up to 5 cm (2 in) in diameter. The presence of the lichen does not induce the formation of galls in the host plant. The only lichen product detected from collected specimens using thin-layer chromatography was an anthraquinone compound.[2] The combination of characteristics of the lichen that distinguish it from others in Astrothelium are the yellow pigment in the ascomata; the form of the ascomata ("diffusely pseudostromatic"); and the arrangement of the ascomata (in irregular lines).[3] The bright yellow pseudostromata help distinguish Astrothelium neoinspersum from the otherwise similar A. aenascens, found in Papua New Guinea.[2]

Astrothelium neoinspersum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Dothideomycetes
Order: Trypetheliales
Family: Trypetheliaceae
Genus: Astrothelium
Species:
A. neoinspersum
Binomial name
Astrothelium neoinspersum
Aptroot (2016)

References

edit
  1. ^ "Astrothelium Aptroot". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b Aptroot, André; Ertz, Damien; Etayo Salazar, Javier Angel; Gueidan, Cécile; Mercado Diaz, Joel Alejandro; Schumm, Felix; Weerakoon, Gothamie (2016). "Forty-six new species of Trypetheliaceae from the tropics". The Lichenologist. 48 (6): 609–638. doi:10.1017/s002428291600013x. S2CID 89128070.
  3. ^ Aptroot, André; Lücking, Robert (2016). "A revisionary synopsis of the Trypetheliaceae (Ascomycota: Trypetheliales)". The Lichenologist. 48 (6): 763–982. doi:10.1017/s0024282916000487. S2CID 89119724.