Biodiversity & Conservation

Tar lichen - Verrucaria maura - General information

Verrucaria maura

Image Adrian Worley - Chthamalus montagui on the black lichen Verrucaria maura. Image width ca 20 cm.
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Distribution map

Verrucaria maura recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Verrucaria maura is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Penny Avant Text page icon Refereed by:

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Ascomycota Sac fungi
Class Ascomycota Sac fungi
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Very common on rocky shores all around the British Isles.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Verrucaria maura is found intertidally on almost all rocky shores except where the rocks are soft and crumbly. It is usually the main constituent of the black band of lichens below a band orange lichens and extends from well above the level of high water down to the zone of mussels and barnacles. The width of the band depends on the wave and tidal exposure of the shore.
Text page icon Description Verrucaria maura is a lichen that forms a thin, matt-black layer on rock surfaces that can resemble an oil stain. Reproductive bodies may be present as tiny black spots. Under magnification the surface is seen to be covered with a mesh of fine cracks that resemble dried mud.

This review can be cited as follows:

Penny Avant 2008. Verrucaria maura. Tar lichen. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4572>