Lichenicolous fungi are a remarkable group of organisms, likely to
include 3000, and perhaps even more than 5000 species worldwide,
although only c. 1500 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
