Nigrovothelium
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| Nigrovothelium | |
|---|---|
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| Nigrovothelium tropicum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Trypetheliales |
| Family: | Trypetheliaceae |
| Genus: | Nigrovothelium Lücking, M.P.Nelsen & Aptroot (2016) |
| Type species | |
| Nigrovothelium tropicum (Ach.) Lücking, M.P.Nelsen & Aptroot (2016) | |
| Species | |
Nigrovothelium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Trypetheliaceae.[1] It comprises three species.[2] These lichens form crusty patches with a protective outer layer and are easily recognised by their small, black, egg-shaped fruiting bodies that sit directly on the surface. The spores inside have a distinctive diamond-shaped internal cavities that helps distinguish this genus from similar lichens.
The genus was circumscribed in 2016 by the lichenologists Robert Lücking, Matthew Nelsen, and André Aptroot, to contain species formerly in the Trypethelium tropicum species group.[3] The type species, Nigrovothelium tropicum, was originally described by Erik Acharius in 1810, as a species of Verrucaria.[4]
The genus can be characterised by its differences from other similar Trypetheliaceae genera. It differs from Astrothelium in that it has ascomata that are black, fully exposed, and sessile. It differs from Bathelium in its mostly single, black ascomata and astrothelioid ascospores. It differs from Polymeridium in its corticate thallus and astrothelioid ascospores.[3]