Biology:Bouvetiella

From HandWiki
Revision as of 23:38, 11 February 2024 by John Stpola (talk | contribs) (fixing)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Short description: Genus of lichen

Bouvetiella
Scientific classification edit
Missing taxonomy template (fix): Lecanoromycetes/family incertae sedis
Genus: Bouvetiella
Øvstedal (1986)
Species:
B. pallida
Binomial name
Bouvetiella pallida
Øvstedal (1986)

Bouvetiella is a monotypic genus of lichenized fungus in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains only the species Bouvetiella pallida.

Taxonomy

Bouvetiella pallida was first described by Dag Olav Øvstedal, a Norwegian lichenologist, in 1986. At that time, no molecular sequencing had been done on genetic material from the species.[1] As of May 2023, that was still the case, so the genus Bouvetiella has not been assigned to a family or order, though it is known to fall into the class Lecanoromycetes.[2] Bouvetiella pallida is distinctly different from any other known lichen. Because of this, Øvstedal established the genus Bouvetiella to contain it.[3] Bouvetiella pallida is the only species in the genus.[2]

Description

Bouvetiella pallida is a brownish-black crustose lichen which grows up to 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter. Its thallus, the lichen's vegetative body, is rubbery (gelatinose) with small, granular scales known as squamules. Its tiny, pale apothecia, the lichen's fruiting bodies, measure a mere 0.2 mm (0.0079 in) in diameter and can range in colour from light pink to whitish. These can be flat, or slightly convex.[3] The asci each contain eight lemon-shaped ascospores. Thin-walled, transparent and colourless, these ascospores measure 14–16 x 5–6 μm and contain numerous oil droplets.[4]

Habitat and range

Bouvetiella pallida was initially known only from Bouvet Island – a volcanic, subantarctic island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. There, it occurs 15–25 m (49–82 ft) above sea level, typically growing on low-growing communities of mosses. Those it most often overgrows belong to the genera Bryum and Tortula. It has also been found on soil (silt or scoria) near a fumerole.[5] On Bouvet Island, it has been found only in the area known as Nyrøysa – a flat terrace created by a rock slide on the island's northwestern coast in the 1950s.[3][6] However, in 1998, it was also discovered on Livingston Island in the South Shetlands, on the lower slopes of Mount Reina Sofía. There, it was growing on soil over rock.[7]

References

Sources

Wikidata ☰ {{{from}}} entry