Biodiversity & Conservation

Black lichen - Lichina pygmaea

Lichina pygmaea

Image Harvey Tyler-Walters - Lichina pygmaea amongst barnacles. Image width ca 5 cm.
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Distribution map

Lichina pygmaea recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Lichina pygmaea is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Ascomycota Sac fungi
Class Ascomycetes
Authority (Lightfoot) Agardh, 1821
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Widely distributed around Britain and Ireland on wave exposed rocky shores but not recorded from the shores of south east England, probably due to a lack of suitable substrata.
Habitat information icon Habitat information May form extensive patchy mats at or just below high water level of neap tides on wave exposed rocky shores, especially on well-drained, south-facing surfaces. Usually associated with the upper limit of barnacles. A strictly maritime species.
Text page icon Description A dark brown to matt black lichen forming branching tufts up to 1cm tall. It occurs as patches or may form extensive mats on rocky shores. Thallus composed of flattened branches (lobes), that become rounded at the tips. Spherical fruiting bodies, up to 2 mm in diameter occur at the tips of the branches.
Identifying features
  • Thallus dark matt brown or black in colour.
  • Thallus forms bushy tufts up to 1 cm tall.
  • Lobes of thallus flattened with apical fruiting bodies.
  • Found at or below high water of neap tides.
Additional information icon Additional information Resembles a small seaweed at first glance. It may be confused with Lichina confinis, which is smaller (up to 0.5cm in height) with rounded branches and occurs above high water. Commonly confused with the small branching seaweed Catenella caespitosa, which has a small, dark purple, irregularly branched frond and is restricted to damp crevices and overhangs on the shore.

This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2002. Lichina pygmaea. Black 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/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3671>