Porina australiensis Lucking

Porina cf. australiensis (Lücking & Vězda) Lücking, Biblioth. Lichenol. 88: 413. 2004. Fig. 15 B Type. AUSTRALIA • Queensland, Crediton State Forest, 840 m, rain forest, 6.1986, Streimann 37663 a (holotype: UPS; isotype: CANB, Herb. R. Lücking). Notes. New record for Madagascar. Porina australiensis, originally found in lowland rainforests of northern Australia (Lücking and Vězda 1998), is represented here by a single specimen from southern Madagascar (25303 H). The preserved morphological characters align with the original description by Lücking and Vězda (1998), although the specimen examined bears only a few perithecia and seems to be in a deteriorated state. The 7 - septate ascospores measure (35 –) 36–38.5 (– 39) × (5.1 –) 5.2–6.2 (– 6.6) µm (n = 9), consistent with the previously reported dimensions of 30–38 × 5–6 µm. Furthermore, the ca. 0.6 mm (n = 2) lens-shaped perithecia with applanate tops align with the original description. In the ITS and the mtSSU phylogenies, the specimen was recovered within the Phylloporina clade and may represent the first sequenced material attributable to P. australiensis (Figs 2, 3). The examined specimen associates with algal haplotype 26: 5 (Figs 4, 5). Its mtSSU sequence clusters with an accession identified as P. mastoidella (Nyl.) Müll. Arg. from an unpublished study. This is surprising since P. mastoidella is a corticolous species, whereas P. australiensis is foliicolous. However, the substrate of the specimen from the P. mastoidella GenBank accession is unknown. Although substrate shifts with limited genetic divergence have been demonstrated in Porinaceae, they appear to be relatively uncommon. The P. mastoidella accession should therefore be interpreted with considerable caution. In the absence of type-linked sequences, together with the degraded condition of the specimen, the available evidence is insufficient to confidently assign the material to P. australiensis s. str. It is therefore retained as P. cf. australiensis. Specimens examined. MADAGASCAR – Toliara Prov. • ca. 25 km Northwest of Fort-Dauphin (Tolagnaro), National Park of Andohahela, South part of parcel 1, ca. 5 km West of the village of Malio, 24°55'43.4"S, 46°44'37.2"E, alt. 360 m, dense humid forest at the bottom of a valley near a river bordered by large granite rocks, 27 Nov. 2019; Ertz 25303 H (BR, TAN).