Acanthothecis submuriformis
Acanthothecis submuriformis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2022 by André Aptroot, Robert Lücking, and Marcela Eugenia da Silva M.Cáceres. The type specimen was collected from the Parque Natural Municipal (Porto Velho, Rondônia); here the lichen was found growing on tree bark in primary rainforest.
| Acanthothecis submuriformis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Graphidales |
| Family: | Graphidaceae |
| Genus: | Acanthothecis |
| Species: | A. submuriformis |
| Binomial name | |
| Acanthothecis submuriformis | |
It has a smooth, ochraceous white thallus lacking a cortex and lacking a prothallus. Its asci are 8-spored, and its ascospores are hyaline, measuring 29–31 by 6–8 μm. The specific epithet refers to the submuriform (somewhat chambered) spores; all spores have between 7 and 9 transverse septa, but of the 8 spores in the ascus, only about 2 have a longitudinal septum.[1]
Acanthothecis submuriformis contains lichexanthone, a lichen product that causes the thallus and ascomata margins to fluoresce yellow when lit with a long-wavelength UV light. This species and Acanthothecis tetraphora are the only species in genus Acanthothecis known to produce lichexanthone.[1]
References
- Feuerstein, Shirley Cunha; Aptroot, André; da Silveira, Rosa Mara Borges; Lücking, Robert; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2022). "An updated world key to the species of Acanthothecis s. lat. (Ascomycota: Graphidaceae), with ten new species from Brazil". The Lichenologist. 54 (2): 87–99. doi:10.1017/s0024282922000019. S2CID 247795096.