Dictyonema gomezianum
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| Dictyonema gomezianum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Hygrophoraceae |
| Genus: | Dictyonema |
| Species: | D. gomezianum |
| Binomial name | |
| Dictyonema gomezianum | |
 Holotype: Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica | |
Dictyonema gomezianum is a little-known filamentous, blue-green basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae.[1] It forms dense, shimmering blue-green mats up to 5 cm (2 in) across that grow on tree bark and mosses in mountain rainforests. The species is known only from Costa Rica, where it was discovered at Las Cruces Biological Station at an elevation of 1,200 meters. It is closely related to Dictyonema metallicum but can be distinguished by its narrower fungal threads and has only been found in a sterile state without reproductive structures.
Dictyonema gomezianum was described as a new species in 2015 by Robert Lücking, Manuela Dal-Forno, and James D. Lawrey. The holotype specimen of Dictyonema gomezianum was collected in 2004 on a moss-flecked tree trunk at Las Cruces Biological Station (1,200 m elevation) and is preserved in the National Herbarium of Costa Rica (CR); an isotype (duplicate) resides at the Field Museum (F). Phylogenetic analyses place D. gomezianum as the sister species of D. metallicum. Although genetic divergence between the two is considerable, their macro-morphology differs only subtly, prompting the authors to diagnose D. gomezianum chiefly by its narrower cyanobacterial filaments and very slender fungal hyphae. No secondary metabolites were detected in the collected samples using thin-layer chromatography.[2]