Catinaria
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| Catinaria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catinaria atropurpurea on Frullania tamarisci | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ramalinaceae |
| Genus: | Catinaria Vain. (1922) |
| Type species | |
| Catinaria montana (Nyl.) Vain. 1922 | |
Catinaria is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae.[1] These lichens form very thin, often barely visible crusts on bark, rock, or moss, and are recognizable by their small, round, reddish-brown to black fruiting bodies that sit flush with the surface. The genus includes eight known species, some of which grow specifically on liverworts and can behave almost like decomposer fungi.
The genus was circumscribed by the Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio in 1922, with Catinaria montana assigned as the type species. Vainio's original description emphasized the genus's distinctive combination of features: a dark, crusty thallus with a prominent raised margin, club-shaped spore-producing structures (asci), and small elliptical ascospores measuring about 8–9 micrometres long. He distinguished Catinaria from the closely related genus Lecidea based on these morphological characteristics, particularly the thallus structure and spore dimensions.[2]