Trypetheliopsis kassamensis
| Trypetheliopsis kassamensis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Monoblastiales |
| Family: | Monoblastiaceae |
| Genus: | Trypetheliopsis |
| Species: | T. kassamensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Trypetheliopsis kassamensis | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Trypetheliopsis kassamensis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Monoblastiaceae.[2] The species was first described in 1997 by Emmanuël Sérusiaux as Musaespora kassamensis, based on material from Kassam Pass in Papua New Guinea, and was transferred to Trypetheliopsis in 2009; it has since been recorded from Costa Rica. It is distinguished from related species by a saffron to orange-yellow pigment inside its spore-producing structures that turns carmine red with potassium hydroxide solution.
Taxonomy
The lichen was first formally described in 1997 by Emmanuël Sérusiaux, as Musaespora kassamensis. The type specimen was collected from Kassam Pass (Eastern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea) at an elevation of around 1400 m.[3]
In 2009, following a study of numerous herbarium specimens of pyrenocarpous lichens collected in Japan, Kashiwadani and colleagues "resurrected" the genus Trypetheliopsis and reclassified several species within it. They also determined that Musaespora was closely related to Trypetheliopsis, and established Musaespora as a synonym of that genus. As part of this revision Aptroot proposed the new combination Trypetheliopsis kassamensis for Sérusiaux's species.[4]
Description
Trypetheliopsis kassamensis differs from the otherwise similar species T. gigas and T. kalbii in a small but distinctive set of microscopic features. Inside the tube of the campylidia (the curved, spore-producing structures), it has a saffron to orange-yellow pigment that turns carmine red when treated with potassium hydroxide solution (a K+ reaction). Its perithecia (the flask-shaped fruiting bodies that contain the asci and ascospores) are simple in structure, brown to grey in colour, slightly flattened, and have a depressed ostiole (the pore at the top through which the spores are released).[3]
Habitat and distribution
Trypetheliopsis kassamensis is a corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen. In its type locality, it was found growing on a small tree in a highly disturbed forest on the side of a road.[3] It has since been recorded from Costa Rica.[5]
References
- ^ "GSD Species Synonymy. Current Name: Trypetheliopsis kassamensis (Sérus.) Aptroot, in Kashiwadani, Aptroot & Moon, Biblthca Lichenol. 99: 249 (2009)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ^ "Trypetheliopsis kassamensis (Sérus.) Aptroot". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ^ a b c Aptroot, André; Diederich, Paul; Sérusiaux, Emmanuel; Sipman, Harrie J.M. (1997). Lichens and lichenicolous fungi from New Guinea. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 64. Berlin/Stuttgart: J. Cramer. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-3-443-58043-8.
- ^ Kashiwadani, Hiro; Aptroot, André; Moon, H.H. (2009). "New pyrenocarpous lichens in Japan, with the resurrection of the genus Trypetheliopsis for Musaespora". In Aptroot, André; Seaward, M.R.D.; Sparrius, L.B. (eds.). Biodiversity and Ecology of Lichens – Liber Amicorum Harrie Sipman. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 99. Berlin/Stuttgart: J. Cramer. pp. 247–258. ISBN 978-3-443-58078-0.
- ^ Mardones, Melissa; Umañan Tenorio, Loengrin; Granados Montero, María del Milagro; Mata Hidalgo, Milagro; Ruiz-Boyer, Armando; Piepenbring, Meike; Minter, David; Coto-López, Cristofer; Carranza Velásquez, Julieta (2024). "The first annotated checklist of Costa Rican fungi". Funga Latina. 2: 10. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.14165034.