‘Sporidesmium’ lichenicola sp. nov., a new lichenicolous fungus on Leptogium from Venezuela

Abstract

‘Sporidesmium’ lichenicola sp. nov. is described from the decaying thallus of an unidentified Leptogium species growing on unidentified tree bark from the Guaramacal National Park in Boconó, Táchira, in western Venezuela. This is only the second lichenicolous species to be described under this generic name, and differences from that species and similar species in Sporidesmium s. lat. are discussed. A more precise generic placement will have to await a molecularly based taxonomy of the genus. The original material comes from a mycologically little explored region of the country, and brief information on previous mycological (including lichenological) studies in the area is provided for the first time in English. The new combination S. sinense (syn. Repetophragma sinense) also is made.

• anamorphic ascomycetes
• conidial fungi
• dematiaceous hyphomycete
• lichens
• tropical fungi

The material on which this collection was based was gathered while JLC. was a guest of the Herbario Universitario, Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Occidentales ‘Ezequiel Zamora’ (UNELLEZ), Guanare. He is indebted to the late Francisco J. Ortega, and especially D.C. Taphorn, for their kind hospitality. This work was completed while TI was supported by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencias of Spain (Prof. en Régimen de Año Sabático) and Decanato de Investigación y Desarrollo Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB), Dirección de Desarrollo Profesoral (USB); and DLH was supported by the Programa Ramón y Cajal of the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain.

Notes

2 Sporidesmium sinense (W.P. Wu) Iturr., D. Hawksw. & J.L. Crane, comb. nov.MycoBank No. MB 511406. Basionym: Repetophragma sinense and related species from China [Fungal Diversity Research Series Vol. 15]: 85 W.P. Wu, in Wu & Zhuang, Sporidesmium, Endophragmiella(2005).