Frosted glass-whiskers (Sclerophora peronella) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 3

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Species Information

Name and classification

Sclerophora peronella is a lichenized fungus in the Coniocybaceae. It belongs to a group of species that house their spores in tiny (0.2-2.0 mm tall) stalked apothecia that resemble beard stubble. Colloquially they are known as “stubble lichens” or “pin lichens”.

Description

Sclerophora peronella is distinguished by its pale pinkish apothecia, the reddish central core of the apothecial stalk visible in water, and the small, single-celled, smooth spores. The short-stalked (0.5-0.8 mm tall) apothecia (Figure 1) rise above an endosubstratic thallus where the fungi are associated with the green algal genus Trentepohlia. The capitulum of young apothecia is covered with a faint, lemon yellow pruina. As in many of the calicioid lichens, the asci that initially contain the spores within the hymenial layer of the apothecium disintegrate early in development of the apothecia. The spores, remnants of asci and paraphyses produce a powdery mass on the surface of the apothecium known as a mazaedium. The mazaedium in S. peronella is pale flesh-colored to yellowish brown, and may be covered with white pruina at maturity. The sexual spores, or ascospores, are spherical, hyaline, 3.0-3.5 microns in diameter, and have a smooth surface. No secondary substances have been detected.

A detailed description of S. peronella can be found in Selva and Tibell (1999). This reference also includes a discussion of similar species of Sclerophorahttp://csdept.umfk.maine.edu/LichensWebsite/images.asp (link last accessed May 2005).

Designatable units

Two designatable units are recognized in this report, based on the occurrence of two distinct populations occurring in widely separated Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) ecozones (Atlantic and Pacific) and the very low likelihood of genetic exchange between the populations found in these zones.