Opuscula Philolichenum, 16: 267–311. 2017. *pdf effectively published online 25August2017 via (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/op/) Lichenicolous fungi of the Caucasus: New species, new records and a second synopsis MIKHAIL P. ZHURBENKO 1 ABSTRACT. – Ninety-four species of lichenicolous and allied fungi are reported from the Northwest Caucasus. Nanostictis caucasica on Parmelia sulcata is described as new to science. A presumably new ascomycete with hairy apothecia growing on Thamnolia vermicularis is described but not given a formal name. Acremonium pertusariae, Arthonia destruens, Cercidospora cf. rinodinae, Endococcus sendtneri, Lichenochora inconspicua, Lichenodiplis anomala, Rhizocarpon cf. ochrolechiae, Roselliniopsis tartaricola and Thelocarpon cf. sphaerosporum are newly reported for Asia and Russia, Polycoccum hymeniicola is newly reported for Russia. A first verified occurrence of Dactylospora tegularum in Russia is reported. Dactylospora athallina and Zwackhiomyces kiszkianus are reported new to Asian Russia. Cercidospora verrucosaria, Cornutispora ciliata, C. lichenicola, Dacampia hookeri, D. rufescentis, Didymocyrtis consimilis, Lichenochora caloplacae, Lichenostigma chlaroterae, Merismatium nigritellum agg., Monodictys fuliginosa, Pronectria erythrinella s. l., Scutula epiblastematica, Sphaerellothecium araneosum, Sphinctrina leucopoda, Stigmidium pseudopeltideae, S. squamariae and Tetramelas phaeophysciae are reported new to the Caucasus. Lichenochora caloplacae is reported for the first time from outside the Arctic. An unusual intrahymenial parasite of Lecanora pulicaris similar to Rhabdospora lecanorae is discussed. Bryoplaca is reported as a new host genus for Merismatium nigritellum agg., Cetrelia for Cornutispora lichenicola and Echinothecium reticulatum, Flavoparmelia for Cornutispora ciliata, and Pseudevernia for Lichenoconium cargillianum. A synopsis of 248 species from 98 genera of lichenicolous fungi and three species from two additional genera of allied fungi so far known from the Caucasus is presented and analyzed. The most species-rich genera are Stigmidium, Arthonia and Abrothallus. 81% of the lichenicolous fungi species were found on only one host genus. The value of the ‘parasite genera:host genera’ ratio is about 1:1. The most frequently parasitized lichen genera are Lecanora s. l., Parmelia, Peltigera, Cladonia and Physcia. About half of the species found in the Caucasus occur outside the Holarctic. The lichenicolous index for the Russian Caucasus is approximately 0.2. The most frequently collected species were Lichenostigma maureri, Marchandiomyces corallinus, Lichenoconium erodens, L. lecanorae and Nesolechia oxyspora. About 25% of the detected species were considered visible to the naked eye, 60% were clearly visible only at 10× magnification, and 15% only at 20−40× magnification. KEYWORDS. – Lichenicolous mycobiota, biodiversity, biogeography, ecology. INTRODUCTION The first publications that presented information about the lichenicolous fungi of the Caucasus appeared more than a century ago (Elenkin & Woronichin 1908, Vainio 1899). However, the systematic investigation of these organisms in the region began only recently. The first synopsis of lichenicolous fungi of the Caucasus included 72 species from 47 genera (Zhurbenko & Otte 2012). Subsequently, dedicated studies of these fungi in the Teberda and Caucasian Biosphere Reserves supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research were carried out (Zhurbenko & Kobzeva 2014, 2016; Zhurbenko & Pino- Bodas 2017; Zhurbenko et al. 2015b, c; present paper). These studies, along with additional new reports 1MIKHAIL P. ZHURBENKO – Lab. of the Systematics and Geography of Fungi, Komarov Botanical Institute Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Popov 2, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia. – e–mail: [email protected] 267 published in a series of lichen floristic contributions (Urbanavichene & Urbanavichus 2014; Urbanavichus & Ismailov 2013, 2016; Urbanavichus & Urbanavichene 2012, 2014, 2015a, b), increased their known diversity from the region by more than three times. Given the number of newly accumulated records, both published and unpublished, the present contribution was assembled with the goal of once again summarizing the lichenicolous mycobiota of the region. MATERIALS AND METHODS In addition to the published literature, this study is based on 232 specimens of lichenicolous fungi and lichenicolous lichens housed in the mycological herbarium of the V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia (LE). Microscopical examination was carried out using a Zeiss Axio Imager A1 microscope equipped with Nomarski differential interference contrast optics (DIC) in water, 10% KOH (K), Lugol’s iodine, directly (I) or after a KOH pre-treatment (K/I), or brilliant cresyl blue (BCr). The length, breadth and length/breadth ratio (l/b) of asci, ascospores and conidia are given (where n > 10) as: (min−){X−SD}−{X+SD}(−max), where “min” and “max” are the extreme observed values, X the arithmetic mean and SD the corresponding standard deviation. Measurements were taken from water mounts, unless otherwise indicated. Data for the twenty-two localities from which the newly reported specimens were collected is summarized below. The localities are referenced in the text by the number that appears in bold in the list below. 1: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, northeastern spur of Mt. Tybga, 43°52'48''N, 40°15'59''E, elev. 2480 m, alpine vegetation and siliceous rocks. 2: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, vicinity of Mt. Tybga, 1 km NE of Turovyi cabin, 43°54'03''N, 40°16'38''E, elev. 2040 m, Betula litvinovii forest. 3: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Abago pastureland boundary, Mt. Ekspeditsiya, 43°54'48''N, 40°15'43''E, elev. 1950 m, Pinus sylvestris ssp. kochiana forest and siliceous rocks among mountain meadows. 4: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Abago pastureland boundary, Mt. Ekspeditsiya, Dom Kotova cabin, 43°56'55''N, 40°12'31''E, elev. 1770 m, Fagus orientalis-Abies nordmanniana-Acer trautphetteri forest. 5: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, road between Guzeripl’ settlement and Dom Kotova cabin, 43°58'27''N, 40°11'50''E, elev. 1400 m, Abies nordmanniana forest. 6: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, vicinity of Guzeripl’ settlement, 44°00'05''N, 40°08'21''E, elev. 680 m, Fagus orientalis-Carpinus betulus forest. 7: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, vicinity of Guzeripl’ settlement, near the junction of Filimonov Creek and Molchepa River, 43°59'25''N, 40°08'56''E, elev. 770 m, Fagus orientalis-Abies nordmanniana forest. 8: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Belaya River 2 km upstream of Guzeripl’ settlement, 43°59'21''N, 40°07'28''E, elev. 680 m, Fagus orientalis-Abies nordmanniana forest. 9: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Lagonaki Upland, Azishskii pass, 44°04'33'' N, 40°00'58'' E, elev. 1750 m, mixed forest with Abies nordmanniana. 10: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Lagonaki Upland, Armyanskii pass, 43°58'15''N, 39°56'30''E, elev. 1750 m, Fagus orientalis forest. 11: RUSSIA. REPUBLIC OF ADYGEYA: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, headwaters of Armyanka River, 44°00'33''N, 39°59'42''E, elev. 1680 m, Fagus orientalis-Abies nordmanniana forest. 12: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Lagonaki Upland, foot of Mt. Fisht at the headwaters of Belaya River, 43°57'34''N, 39°55'48''E, elev. 1580 m, Abies nordmanniana-Вetula litwinowii-Acer trautvetteri-Sorbus aucuparia forest and calcareous rocks. 13: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Lagonaki Upland, southeastern spur of Mt. Fisht, near Malyi Fishtinskii glacier, 43°57'08''N, 39°55'42''E, elev. 1640 m, Abies nordmanniana-Вetula litwinowii-Acer trautvetteri-Sorbus aucuparia forest and calcareous rocks. 268 14: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Lagonaki Upland, between Mt. Fisht and Mt. Pshekho-Su, 43°58'N, 39°54'E, elev. 2050‒2300 m, alpine vegetation. 15: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, confluence of Urushten and Malaya Laba Rivers, Chernorech’e cabin, 43°55'59''N, 40°41'01''E, elev. 800 m, open rocks beside a road in Fagus orientalis dominated forest. 16: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, northern spur of Mt. Armovka, 43°54'N, 40°40'E, elev. 1150‒1370 m, Fagus orientalis forest. 17: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, northern spur of Mt. Armovka, 43°53'59''N, 40°39'39''E, elev. 1750 m, mixed deciduous forest. 18: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, northern spur of Mt. Armovka, 43°53'27''N, 40°39'47''E, elev. 1830 m, Betula litwinowii forest. 19: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, northern spur of Mt. Armovka, 43°52'28''N, 40°39'20''E, elev. 2250 m, alpine vegetation and siliceous rocks. 20: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: 1 km S of Dzhankhot settlement, top of Mt. Svyatoi Niny, 44°27'29‒34''N, 38°09'32‒49''E, elev. 180‒330 m, Quercus petraea-Pinus brutia var. pityusa forest. 21: RUSSIA. KRASNODAR TERRITORY: 15 km SE of Gelendzhik, Zhane River valley, 44°33'N, 38°15'E, elev. 130‒170 m, Fagus orientalis-Carpinus caucasica-C. orientalis forest. 22: RUSSIA. KARACHAVEVO-CIRCASSIAN REPUBLIC: Teberda town, left bank of Teberda River at 1 km upstream of Teberda Biosphere Reserve office,