Lichens marins - Caloplaca aquensis Houmeau & Cl. Roux

Caloplaca aquensis Houmeau & Cl. Roux

Caloplaca aquensis Houmeau & Cl. Roux

Description

Thallus crustose in general more or less endolithic, very thin and inconspicuous, sometimes epilithic and relatively thick and then cracked and areolate, dirty whitish, pale ochraceous, yellowish-gray. Quite numerous apothecia, spread over the entire thallus, at first a little buried in the thallus then partially sessile, 0.3-1 mm in diameter, disc flat to rarely slightly convex, pale orange, orange, orange-ochraceous (NB in areas receiving seawater splashes the tinges may become a little purple and wine-red and finally blackish-brown in decay), rim thick, persistent, concolor or lighter. Utriform asci with 8 spores. Hyaline, polarilocular, elliptical spores (sometimes unsymmetrical and in a "drop of water"), 13-19 x 6-7.5 (9) µm with an equatorial thickness of 3-5 (6) µm according to the literature, 13 -18 (23) x (5) 6-9 μm according to M. Bertrand; 18-20 (23) x 8-10 µm with a septum of (5) 7-10 µm according to our measurements. Simple, unbranched septate paraphyses (very rarely at the top which is very slightly swollen). Photobiont: chlorococcoid. Thallus: K-, apothecia: K + purple. Species with thermophilic tendencies rare coming in edge of sea on the rocks of hard limestone in the xeric and mesic zone.