Oceanoplaca Arup, Søchting & Bungartz, gen. nov.
MycoBank number: MB 836943; Index Fungorum number: IF 836943; Facesoffungi number: FoF 13608;
Generic type: Oceanoplaca isidiosa (Vain.) Bungartz, Søchting & Arup, ibid.
Diagnosis: Thallus saxicolous or corticolous, crustose, granular to subsquamulose or placodioid, often isidiate. Apothecia lecanorine, biatorine or zeorine, asci clavate, of Teloschistes-type, with 8 spores. Ascospores polaribilocular with a moderate to wide septum. Oceanoplaca is phylogenetically well-delimited on a distinct clade in Caloplacoideae with Phaeoplaca as sister genus.
Chemistry: Apothecia and thallus with or without anthraquinones. The anthraquinone isidiosin sometimes present in apothecia and in some species also within the thallus.
Etymology: The genus name is a combination of the syllables ‘-placa’ hinting at Caloplaca (from which species in the genus were transferred), and ‘oceano-’, indicating a proximity to the sea, i.e., where the species currently known in this genus typically grow.
Known distribution: The genus is so far recorded from the Neotropics (Central America and the Galapagos Islands), the Palaeotropics (Cape Verde Islands), and in North America from the Sonoran Desert Region.
Species