# Cresponea

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***Cresponea*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [lichens](/source/Lichen) in the family [Opegraphaceae](/source/Opegraphaceae). The genus, [circumscribed](/source/Circumscription_(taxonomy)) in 1993, contains species that were formerly classified in *[Lecanactis](/source/Lecanactis)*. *Cresponea* is widely distributed, but most species are found in [tropical](/source/Tropical) and [subtropical](/source/Subtropic) regions.[1] The genus is named in honor of the Spanish lichenologist [Ana Crespo](/source/Ana_Crespo).[2]

## Description

*Cresponea* spreads as a thin, paint-like crust that merges with the surface of bark or, less often, rock. The [thallus](/source/Thallus) can be smooth or cracked into an irregular mosaic, and on rare occasions it breaks into tiny, discrete . Colours range from chalk-white through pale grey to a muted green; some specimens show a narrow, dark brown margin where the fungal threads alone grow out beyond the . Because there is no separate , the fungal tissue lies directly over the , usually the filamentous [green alga](/source/Green_alga) genus *[Trentepohlia](/source/Trentepohlia_(alga))*, which gives a faint orange tint when the surface is scratched. The lichen never produces [isidia](/source/Isidia) or [soralia](/source/Soralia), so it relies on its sexual and asexual fruit bodies for [dispersal](/source/Biological_dispersal).[3]

The sexual structures are small, button-like [apothecia](/source/Apothecia) that sit on the thallus with a pinched base. They lack a rim of thallus tissue, instead showing a glossy, often crenulated rim (the ) that is conspicuously dark brown to black and remains free of the powdery bloom that coats many related genera. The starts flat, may become gently domed, and is dusted with a fine white or bluish , especially in young apothecia. Inside, the clear [hymenium](/source/Hymenium) stains blue or reddish in iodine and houses slender filaments whose club-shaped tips carry a dark brown cap; together these caps form a granular that turns yellow in [potassium hydroxide](/source/Potassium_hydroxide) solution. Each [ascus](/source/Ascus) releases eight long, spindle-shaped [ascospores](/source/Ascospore) divided by three to nineteen cross-walls ([septa](/source/Septum)); the walls are thick, and the spores stay colourless. [Asexual reproduction](/source/Asexual_reproduction) occurs in tiny [pycnidia](/source/Pycnidia) embedded in the crust; these produce short, rod-shaped [conidia](/source/Conidia). Most species show no detectable [lichen products](/source/Lichen_product) in chemical [tests](/source/Spot_test_(lichen)).[3]

## Ecology

Generally [epiphytic](/source/Epiphyte), *Cresponea* lichen prefer mature, humid [woodlands](/source/Woodland) and are sometimes used as an indicator of [old-growth](/source/Old-growth_forest) conditions, though a few species tolerate rock surfaces in sheltered sites.[3]

## Species

As of September 2025, [Species Fungorum](/source/Species_Fungorum) (in the [Catalogue of Life](/source/Catalogue_of_Life)) accepts 23 species of *Cresponea*.[4]

- *[Cresponea ancistrosporelloides](/source/Cresponea_ancistrosporelloides)* Sparrius & Sipman (2011)
- *[Cresponea apiculata](/source/Cresponea_apiculata)* Egea, Sérus. & Torrente (1996)
- *[Cresponea chloroconia](/source/Cresponea_chloroconia)* (Tuck.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea endosulphurea](/source/Cresponea_endosulphurea)* M.Cáceres, A.A.Menezes & Aptroot (2013)[5] – Brazil
- *[Cresponea flava](/source/Cresponea_flava)* (Vain.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea flavescens](/source/Cresponea_flavescens)* (Vain.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea flavosorediata](/source/Cresponea_flavosorediata)* Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2014)[6] – Brazil
- *[Cresponea follmannii](/source/Cresponea_follmannii)* (C.W.Dodge) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea graemeannae](/source/Cresponea_graemeannae)* Kantvilas (2020)[7]
- *[Cresponea japonica](/source/Cresponea_japonica)* A.Sakata & H.Harada (2009)
- *[Cresponea leprieurii](/source/Cresponea_leprieurii)* (Mont.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea leprieuroides](/source/Cresponea_leprieuroides)* (Nyl.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea lichenicola](/source/Cresponea_lichenicola)* Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2014)[6] – Brazil
- *[Cresponea macrocarpoides](/source/Cresponea_macrocarpoides)* (Zahlbr.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea melanocheiloides](/source/Cresponea_melanocheiloides)* (Vain.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea pallidosorediata](/source/Cresponea_pallidosorediata)* Aptroot (2022)[8] – Brazil
- *[Cresponea plurilocularis](/source/Cresponea_plurilocularis)* (Nyl.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea premnea](/source/Cresponea_premnea)* (Ach.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea proximata](/source/Cresponea_proximata)* (Nyl.) Egea & Torrente (1993)
- *[Cresponea quinqueseptata](/source/Cresponea_quinqueseptata)* Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2021)[9] – Brazil
- *[Cresponea sorediata](/source/Cresponea_sorediata)* Elix, Øvstedal & N.J.M.Gremmen (2011)
- *[Cresponea subpremnea](/source/Cresponea_subpremnea)* (Kantvilas & Vězda) Kantvilas (2020)[7]

The [taxon](/source/Taxon) once known as *Cresponea litoralis* Elix (2007)[10] is no longer placed in *Cresponea* because the species has asci of the *[Bactrospora](/source/Bactrospora)*-type, a very lax hymenium, and , multiseptate ascospores, which are features diagnostic of *Bactrospora*.[7]

## References

1. Egea, J.M. & Torrente, P. (1993). ["*Cresponea*, a new genus of lichenized fungi in the order Arthoniales (Ascomycotina)"](http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59575/0048/0301.htm). *Mycotaxon*. **48**: 301–31.

1. Divakar, Pradeep K. ["IAL - Acharius Medallists"](http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_Crespo.html). *www.lichenology.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160402154727/http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_Crespo.html) 2 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 February 2019.

1. Cannon, P.; Aptroot, A.; Coppins, B.; Ertz, D.; Sanderson, N.; Simkin, J.; Wolseley, P. (2023). [*Arthoniales: Roccellaceae \[revision 1\], including the genera*Cresponea*,*Dendrographa*,*Dirina*,*Enterographa*,*Gyrographa*,*Lecanactis*,*Ocellomma*,*Pseudoschismatomma*,*Psoronactis*,*Roccella*,*Schismatomma*and*Syncesia'](https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Roccellaceae%20rev%201.pdf)**. Vol. 32. Revisions of British and Irish Lichens. p. 5.**

1. Menezes, Aline Anjos; de Lima, Edvaneide Leandro; Xavier-Leite, Amanda Barreto; Maia, Leonor Costa; Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2013). "New species of Arthoniales from NE Brazil". *The Lichenologist*. **45** (5): 611–617. [doi:10.1017/s0024282913000236](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0024282913000236)

1. Cáceres, M.E.S.C.; Aptroot, A.; Ertz, D. (2014). "Species of Arthoniales from the Amazon, Rondônia, Brazil". *The Lichenologist*. **46** (4): 573–588. [doi:10.1017/S0024282914000036](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0024282914000036)

1. Kantvilas, Gintaras (2020). "Contributions to the lichen genus *Cresponea* (Roccellaceae)". *The Lichenologist*. **52** (4): 279–285. [doi:10.1017/S0024282920000262](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0024282920000262)

1. Aptroot, André; de Souza, Maria Fernanda; dos Santos, Lidiane Alves; Junior, Isaias Oliveira; Barbosa, Bruno Micael Cardoso; da Silva, Marcela Eugenia Cáceres (2022). "New species of lichenized fungi from Brazil, with a record report of 492 species in a small area of the Amazon Forest". *The Bryologist*. **125** (3): 435–467. [doi:10.1639/0007-2745-125.3.433](https://doi.org/10.1639/0007-2745-125.3.433)

1. Aptroot, André; dos Santos, Lidiane Alves; da Silva Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia (2021). ["Saxicolous lichens in the semi-arid caatinga in Brazil show substratum shifts"](https://zenodo.org/record/7815178). *Cryptogamie, Mycologie*. **42** (11): 181–189. [doi:10.5252/cryptogamie-mycologie2021v42a11](https://doi.org/10.5252/cryptogamie-mycologie2021v42a11)

1. Elix, J.A. (2007). "Four new crustose lichens (lichenized Ascomycota) from Australia". *Australasian Lichenology*. **60**: 14–19.

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