Aportación al Conocimiento de los Hongos Liquenícolas de Columbia

"While studies of lichenicolous fungi have proceeded apace, with 1,559 species now known (Lawrey & Diederich 2003), those in the tropics have hardly been studied, with a few notable exceptions (e.g. Aptroot et al. 1997, Matzer 1996). Just how rich the tropics are for these fungi is confirmed by this work. Collections were made by Javier Etayo and various colleagues in eight localities in the range 2,800-3,400 m in Colombia during 1998. The collections yielded 104 lichenicolous species, of which 41 are described as new to science, including four new genera: Globonectria (Hypocreales), Hypotrachynicola (Ascomycota incertae sedis), Nigromacula (sporodochial conidial fungus), and Rhagadostomella (Sordariales, Nitschkeaceae). Hypotrachyna proved to be an exceptionally rich host in the country with 26 species, seven of which are described as new, seven named only to genus, and two probably representing additional new genera. Some of these fungi certainly need to be searched for elsewhere, for example, Nigromacula hypotrachynae had already been described from the UK as Vouauxiella uniseptata; it certainly needed a new genus and the combination N. uniseptata has now been made (Hawksworth 2003). It was also interesting to see species previously known from temperate Europe or North America had been discovered, such as Milospium graphideorum, Nanostictis peltigerae, Phacopsis thallicola, and Pleospora leptogiicola. Other noteworthy taxa include the first lichencolous species of the normally lichenized genus Strigula, and a second lichenicolous species of the generally plant saprobic Pezizella. With so many novel taxa there is always the tendency to 'squeeze' species into genera where they probably do not really belong, for example the three species described here in Trichonectria. Very full descriptions and keys for the genera where several members are reported are provided, and there are detailed discussions of the placements and affinities of many species. The photographs and line drawings are of an exceptional quality and must have been prepared with great care. I was also pleased to see that the holotypes of the new taxa had been deposited in COL (Bogotá) where they will be accessible to workers in the country. In summary, a fine work which will be required by all who work on lichenicolous fungi."

– Mycotaxon vol. LXXXVII, July-September 2003


"Lichenicolous fungi are a remarkable group of organisms, likely to include 3,000, and perhaps even more than 5,000 species worldwide, although only c. 1,500 species have been described to date. In Europe they have been studied and explored by several scientists since the 19th century. After 1980, more and more lichenologists became interested in them, and have included them in national checklists. During the past 14 years, the number of known species has doubled, and this growth is in no way diminishing. Outside of Europe, however, hardly anything was known about these fascinating fungi until recently, and the North American checklist enumerated just 62 species in 1990.

The Spanish lichenologist Javier Etayo became interested in lichenicolous fungi around 1990, and his great enthusiasm was certainly reinforced by the particularly rich lichen flora in his area of study. He published many papers on Spanish lichens and lichenicolous fungi, especially from the western Pyrenees, and he did not hesitate to describe numerous species new to science. His publications all have a special signature: his line drawings are of a remarkable quality scientifically and artistically, and they often show details that experienced lichenologists would hardly be able to recognize by microscope. Although Javier Etayo has participated in several revisions of lichenicolous genera, his main interest is in exploring rich, but poorly known regions of the world, and in discovering and describing new taxa. In 1994 and 1995, he visited the Spanish Isles of Gomera (with 51 lichenicolous taxa published in one paper, including two new ones), La Palma (42 species, three new) and Mallorca (21 species). In 1996, he visited the Island of Coiba (Panama), and he has since returned several times to Central and South America, exploring the hardly known lichen and lichenicolous fungal flora of several countries. In 1998, he made an important trip to Colombia, where he visited nine high-altitude localities within two weeks. The results of this expedition reveal an extraordinary lichenicolous flora that shows how much remains to be done in South America and in tropical countries in general.

Volume 84 of Bibliotheca Lichenologica presents the results of this Colombian trip: 41 species are described as new to science; 63 additional species could be identified, many of them first records for the country or even for South America, and many more species were collected but are not yet identified or described, mainly because the material is poorly developed. For each lichen genus, a host index enumerates the fungi found on it: the leader is the genus Hypotrachyna, on which 26 species were collected (including 8 new species and 10 that were not identified), followed by Sticta (20 species), Lobaria (13), Usnea (12), Heterodermia (10) and Peltigera (9). All these rich host genera are macrolichens, whilst crustose hosts harbor few species. For example, the genus Pertusaria, one of the best hosts for lichenicolous fungi in temperate regions, has just one species, and Caloplaca is missing in the list.

The main part of the volume enumerates in alphabetic order the identified and new species, whilst the unidentified are just mentioned in the host index. Many comments on the taxonomy, distribution and host-specificity accompany the list of specimens for each species. For genera with more species, an identification key is usually added. All new species are richly illustrated, both with line drawings and black and white photos.

Four new genera are described. Globonectria Etayo is introduced for a species of hypocrealean fungi with immersed perithecia and 1-seriate, subspherical ascospores with a granulose ornamentation. Hypotrachynicola Etayo includes a species with black, immersed perithecia, an I-centrum lacking hamathecial filaments at maturity, thin-walled, 16-spored asci, and hyaline, aseptate ascospores; the genus is of unknown affinity. Nigromacula Etayo is described for a sporodochial hyphomycete with dark, catenate, 1-septate conidia. Rhagadostomella Etayo is proposed for a species with minuscule, superficial perithecia lacking paraphyses, and hyaline, cylindrical, 1-septate ascospores; it is tentatively included in the Nitschkiaceae (Sordariales). Astonishingly, a first lichenicolous member of the otherwise lichenized genus Strigula is described, and a further species of Discosiella (anamorph of Strigula) is briefly mentioned and described, but left unnamed. Also, two new species of Tubeufia (Tubeufiaceae, Dothideales) are the first known lichenicolous members of the family.

This volume by Javier Etayo is an extraordinary contribution to the knowledge of the lichenicolous fungi as a whole, and to the exploration of the poorly known country of Colombia in particular. The author must be congratulated for this work and is encouraged to continue his studies in other under-explored countries. This work must be present in every lichenological laboratory, and should accompany everyone working on lichenicolous fungi. It is not too expensive for most European lichenologists, but it might be unaffordable for many colleagues from South America and other tropical countries.

This is regrettable for a book dealing with the flora of these countries, and I wonder therefore if international editors would not be able to make special efforts to sell books to those scientists for a reduced price."

– Paul Diederich, Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxembourg, The Bryologist 106 (4): 629-630