Noteworthy foliicolous lichens and a lichenicolous fungus collected from Okinawa Island, southern Japan

Noteworthy foliicolous lichens and a lichenicolous fungus collected from Okinawa Island, southern Japan

Based on field surveys conducted from 2020 to 2024 on Okinawa Island, southern Japan, a total of 26 genera, 51 species, and one subspecies of foliicolous lichens, together with one lichenicolous fungus, were identified. Among them, seven foliicolous lichens are newly recorded from Japan, including Badimia polillensis, Byssoloma brunneodiscum, B. melanodiscocarpum (= B. discordans var. flavescens, syn. nov.), Gyalectidium imperfectum, Porina perminuta, Strigula pseudosubtilissima, and S. smaragdula subsp. multiformis (comb. & stat. nov.). An additional 39 species are newly recorded from Okinawa Island. A lichenicolous fungus, Hemigrapha strigulae, is reported from Asia for the first time. A total of 169 mtSSU sequences representing 48 species and eight nuITS sequences representing three species were newly generated. For 15 species, mtSSU sequences have been deposited in GenBank for the first time. These data provide the first molecular evidence for Microtheliopsis uleana, allowing a preliminary evaluation of its phylogenetic placement within Chaetothyriales. Strigula smaragdula subsp. novae-zelandiae (comb. & stat. nov.) is also proposed.