Cenozosia cava Jung & Werner, 2023

Jung, Patrick, Werner, Lina, Briegel-Williams, Laura, Emrich, Dina & Lakatos, Michael, 2023, Roccellinastrum, Cenozosia and Heterodermia: Ecology and phylogeny of fog lichens and their photobionts from the coastal Atacama Desert, MycoKeys 98, pp. 317-348 : 317

Cenozosia cava Jung & Werner sp. nov.

Fig. 4

Type.

Chile. Atacama Desert , Pan de Azucar National Park (25°59'03"S, 70°36'55"W; 764 m a.s.l.) specimen HBG-025793 (Herbarium Hamburgense, Hamburg, Germany).

Diagnosis.

Similar to Niebla ceruchis , but this species has not been verified from the Atacama Desert. C. cava also forms smaller and rarer apothecia.

Etymology.

Epithet ' Cenozosia cava ' refers to the hollow thallus.

Description.

Thallus white to gray and strongly wrinkled or folded in the dry state, gray-green and significantly less wrinkled if hydrated, divided into many long, uniformly narrow cylindrical-teretiform, flexuous branches from a pale brown to blackened base, up to 7.0 cm long and 0.5 cm thick. Mostly made of primary, fastigiate branches, sometimes dichotomously divided. Cortex present, gray, 40-60 μm thick. Medulla white, very loose, with single hyphal strands crisscrossing the hollow interior of the thalli. Apothecia, round, flat, bowl-shaped when young, pale brown to slightly orange with a pale, concave, pink disc, mostly emerging lateral, sometimes terminal, up to 0.8 cm in diameter. Spores two-celled, divided by a septum. Pycnidia black, forming conspicuous, conical protrusions throughout the thallus. Trebouxioid photobiont arranged in nests throughout the loose medulla network.

Secondary metabolites.

Decarboxynorstenosporic acid, decarboxydivaricatic acid, zeorin, fatty acids. UV-, K-, C+ red, KC-, P-.

Distribution and ecology.

Epiphytically directly on cacti stems, preferably on Eulychnia sp., in the fog zones together with C. excorticata and various Ramalina species.

Notes.

The species is similar to Niebla ceruchis but can clearly be differentiated from the latter based on its phylogeny and the smaller, less pronounced formation of apothecia.

Figures

Figure 4. Cenozosia cava sp. nov. A-C photographs of Cenozosia cava sp. nov. on various cacti in the National Park Pan de Azucar D, E close-up of light pink apothecia including microscopic image of the two-celled spore with a septum in D note the tremelloid, gall-like structures across the thalli F close-up of lichen thallus cross section depicting the hollow structure of the thallus, the irregular photobiont nests and the smooth outer cortex structure G-I photographs of various thalli and apothecia. QR code redirects to 3 D scan of Cenozosia cava sp. nov. PW: Lichen.