Verrucaria muralis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling, crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is a common species with an almost cosmopolitan distribution, occurring in an altitudinal range extending from the lowlands to the subalpine zone. It grows on calcareous rocks and walls. It was first formally described as a new species in 1803 by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius.[2]
Verrucaria muralis | |
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in Renkum, the Netherlands | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Eurotiomycetes |
Order: | Verrucariales |
Family: | Verrucariaceae |
Genus: | Verrucaria |
Species: | V. muralis
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Binomial name | |
Verrucaria muralis Ach. (1803)
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Synonyms[1] | |
Description
editThe epilithic thallus of Verrucaria muralis is thin (0.02–0.2 mm thick,) and greyish. It has medium-sized hemispherically protruding perithecia, more or less spherical pale exciples with a well-developed involucrellum of medium thickness that usually reaches down to the middle part of the perithecium (rarely deeper). The hymenium has sparsely branched-anastomosing paraphyses of about 30–50 μm in length, and spores measuring 18–25 by 8–13 μm.[3][4]
In a study of lichen growth rate, Bruce Fink reported in 1917 that it increased in diameter 0.6 cm in 1 year.[5]
Verrucaria marinomuralis is a superficially similar species occurring on non-calcareous seaside rocks in the splash zone or above in central Japan[6] and in Europe.[3] Besides their different ecology, only minor morphological differences separate the two species.[6] Another similar species, Verrucaria epilithea, differs from V. muralis by having a pale, rather than dark, exciple.[4]
Species interactions
editLichenopeltella coppinsii is a lichenicolous fungus that grows on V. muralis.[7] Opegrapha hochstetteri is another lichenicolous fungus that grows on the lichen; its presence causes little damage to its host.[8]
Habitat and distribution
editThe lichen is widely distributed in Fennoscandia and Baltic countries.[4] It was reported for the first time in Korea in 2009.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Synonymy. Current Name: ,Verrucaria muralis Ach., Methodus, Sectio prior (Stockholmiæ): 115 (1803)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ Acharius, E. (1803). Methodus qua Omnes Detectos Lichenes Secundum Organa Carpomorpha ad Genera, Species et Varietates Redigere atque Observationibus Illustrare Tentavit Erik Acharius (in Latin). Stockholm: F.D.D. Ulrich. p. 115.
- ^ a b Bruess, Othmar (2012). "A European record of Verrucaria marinomuralis (lichenised Ascomycetes, Verrucariales)" (PDF). Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde. 21: 1–3.
- ^ a b c Pykälä, Juha; Stepanchikova, Irinia; Himelbrant, Dmitry E.; Kuznetsova, Ekaterina S.; Alexeeva, Nadezhda M. (2012). "The lichen genera Thelidium and Verrucaria in the Leningrad Region (Russia)". Folia Cryptogamica Estonica. 49: 45–57.
- ^ Fink, Bruce (1917). "The rate of growth and ecesis in lichens". Mycologia. 9 (3): 138–158. doi:10.1080/00275514.1917.12018912.
- ^ a b Harada, H. (1995). "Taxonomic notes on the lichen family Verrucariaceae in Japan (VII). Verrucaria marinomuralis Harad sp. nov". Nat. Hist. Res. 3 (2): 111–114.
- ^ Earland-Bennett, P.M.; Hawksworth, D.L. (1999). "Lichenopeltella coppinsii, a new species on Verrucaria muralis from the British Isles". The Lichenologist. 31 (6): 575–578. doi:10.1006/lich.1999.0218. S2CID 84258004.
- ^ Coppins, Brian J.; Kondratyuk, Sergey Y.; Etayo, Javier; Cannon, Paul F. (2021). "Notes on lichenicolous species of Opegrapha s. lat. (Arthoniales) on Arthoniaceae and Verrucariaceae, with a key to British and Irish lichenicolous Opegraphaceae". The Lichenologist. 53 (2): 159–169. doi:10.1017/s0024282921000025. S2CID 232271448.
- ^ Joshi, Yogesh; Wang, Xin-Yu; Koh, Young-Jin; Hur, Jae-Seoun (2009). "Thelotrema subtile and Verrucaria muralis new to Korea". Mycobiology. 37 (4): 302–304. doi:10.4489/MYCO.2009.37.4.302. PMC 3749422. PMID 23983552.