Bouvetiella | |
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
Order: | incertae sedis |
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.
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]
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]
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]
Bouvetiella | |
---|---|
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
Order: | incertae sedis |
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.
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]
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]
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]