Gibbosporina


Gibbosporina is a genus of 13 species of foliose lichens in the family Pannariaceae. It contains species that molecular phylogenetic analysis clustered together in a clade previously referred to as the "Physma"-group. Despite their morphological differences, this group shares several uniting characteristics. They have ring-like excipular margins around the thallus; strongly amyloid internal ascus structures; well-developed perispores that feature irregular gibbae, but not verrucae ; lacks secondary compounds than can be detected by thin-layer chromatography; and have tropical distributions.

Taxonomy

It was circumscribed as a new genus in 2016 by Arve Elvebakk, Soon Gyu Hong and Per Magnus Jørgensen. The type species of the genus was assigned to Gibbosporina boninensis, originally described in 1969 by Syo Kurokawa as Psoroma boninense. The genus name, which combines the Latin gibbus with spora, refers to the characteristic spore feature.

Species

The species Gibbosporina phyllidiata was originally included in this genus, but later research showed that the lichen contained the secondary chemical pannarin and was therefore moved to genus Pannaria with the new name P. melanesica.