Antennulariella

Antennulariella forms an thin, crust-like film that clings directly to the surface of rock or bark and fades imperceptibly into its surroundings, so no rind-like margin or dark prothallus develops. In most species the fungal layer envelops a pale-brown filamentous alga of the genus Trentepohlia that stands more or less at right angles to the substrate; unusually, the type species lacks an obvious photobiont and may live largely on atmospheric moisture and nutrients. The thallus contains no detectable lichen products according to thin-layer chromatography.^[5]

Black, flask-shaped fruit bodies (perithecia) punctuate the surface and are easy to recognise under a hand lens because they are clothed in short, stiff hairs. Internally they are remarkably open: the interwoven network of sterile threads (hamathecium) that normally supports the spore sacs is either completely absent or reduced to a few loose cells, leaving a spacious cavity. The asci themselves are pear-shaped, have a double wall (bitunicate) and show no blue staining reaction in iodine solutions, indicating that the usual amyloid layer is missing. Each ascus releases eight colourless, club-shaped ascospores that are divided once by a cross wall (1-septate) before dispersal. No asexual reproductive structures (conidiomata) have been reported, so the species appear to rely solely on these spores for propagation.^[5]

As of July 2025^[update], Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accept five species of Antennulariella:^[3]

• Antennulariella alpina (W.B.Cooke) M.E.Barr (1987)^[6]
• Antennulariella batistae S.Hughes (2000)^[7]
• Antennulariella concinna (L.R.Fraser) S.Hughes (1976)^[8]
• Antennulariella fuliginosa Woron. (1915)^[4]
• Antennulariella lichenisata Coppins & Aptroot (2008)^[9]