Spinomyces
Genus of lichens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spinomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Gomphillaceae.[2] It has six species of leaf-dwelling lichens.[3]
| Spinomyces | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Graphidales |
| Family: | Gomphillaceae |
| Genus: | Spinomyces Bat. & Peres ex Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023) |
| Type species | |
| Spinomyces albostrigosus (R.Sant.) Xavier-Leite, Cáceres & Lücking (2023) | |
| Species | |
|
S. aggregatus | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Taxonomy
The genus name Spinomyces has a complex taxonomic history. In 1961,[4] the mycologists Augusto Chaves Batista and Generosa Emília Pontual Peres first proposed the name Spinomyces, using a specimen they called S. genipae. However, when scientists later examined this original specimen, they discovered it was actually a mixture of two different lichens – one that appeared to be Tricharia albostrigosa (without reproductive structures) and another species of Echinoplaca. Because Batista and Peres published the name without providing a formal scientific description as required by naming rules, Spinomyces was not considered a valid genus name at that time.[5]
In 2023, when the lichenologists Amanda Xavier-Leite, Marcela Cáceres, and Robert Lücking needed a name for a newly recognised group of lichens centred around what was then called Aderkomyces albostrigosus, they decided to resurrect and formally validate the name Spinomyces.[5] Rather than basing it on the mixed-up Echinoplaca specimen as had been previously suggested by some researchers in 1998,[6] they chose to establish the genus with Tricharia albostrigosa (now Spinomyces albostrigosus) as its type species.[5]
Description
These lichens form a continuous, smooth layer on leaf surfaces, characterised by distinctive white bristles. Their reproductive structures (apothecia) sit directly on the surface and typically range in colour from yellowish to reddish-brown. Under the microscope, these structures usually produce single spores that are divided into multiple compartments both lengthwise and crosswise (muriform).[5]
A characteristic feature of the genus is its specialised reproductive structures (hyphophores), which are white bristles that often widen at their tips. These structures produce chains of spindle-shaped cells (diahyphae) at their tips.[5]
Species
- Spinomyces aggregatus (Lücking) Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
- Spinomyces albostrigosus (R.Sant.) Xavier-Leite, Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
- Spinomyces deslooveri (Sérus.) Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
- Spinomyces guatemalensis (Lücking & Barillas) Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
- Spinomyces microcarpus (Etayo & Lücking) Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
- Spinomyces verrucosus (Sérus.) Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023)