Lichenotheliaceae Henssen, Syst. Ascom. 5: 137 (1986).

MycoBank number: MB 81652; Index Fungorum number: IF 81652; Facesoffungi number: FoF 07699, 51 species.

Saprobic or lichenicolous. Endolithic or epilithic thallus in saxicolous lifestyle. Lichenicolous shows episubstratic or endokapylic thallus black, dispersed or continuous, areolate or not, frequently producing black superficial or rarely effigurate, hyphae, branching or not, sometimes connecting scattered stromata; meristematic growth frequent. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecioid and with interascal filaments or fertile stromata without an ostiole and with asci forming in pseudoparenchymatous locules. Asci 8-spored, globose to broadly clavate, bitunicate, sometimes K/I+bluish around the outer layers or apex of the ascus. Interascal gel amyloid or not. Ascospores uni- to 2-seriate, partially overlapping, hyaline or brown, 1-septate to muriform (sometimes variable). Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Type: Lichenothelia D. Hawksw.

Notes: The family Lichenotheliaceae was introduced to encompass Lichenothelia and Lichenostigma in Dothideales (Henssen and Jahns 1973; Hyde et al. 2013; Valadbeigi et al. 2016). Lichenostigma was placed with Lichenothelia in Lichenotheliaceae based on morphology (Henssen 1987; Muggia et al. 2015). However, based on phylogenetic analysis Lichenostigma was excluded from Lichenotheliaceae and placed to Lichenostigmatales in Arthoniomycetes (Ertz et al. 2014; Hyde et al. 2013; Muggia et al. 2013, 2015). Presently, Lichenotheliaceae comprises two genera namely Lichenothelia and Endococcus. Endococcus was formally referred to Dothideales (Hawksworth 1979). Lumbsch and Huhndorf (2010) and Hyde et al. (2013) placed Endococcus in Dothideomycetes genera incertae sedis. However, Jayasiri et al. (2016) included this genus in Lichenotheliaceae based on morphological similarities to the type species of Lichenothelia. Lichenotheliaceae is placed in Lichenotheliales based on morphological, habitat and molecular evidence (Hyde et al. 2013). Both sexual and asexual morphs have been recorded as saprobic, lichenicolous or lichenized taxa (Hyde et al. 2013; Valadbeigi et al. 2016; Wijayawardene et al. 2017a).