Fungalpedia – Note 2641, Bellemerella
Bellemerella Nav.-Ros. & Cl. Roux.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Verrucariaceae, Verrucariales, Chaetothyriomycetidae, Eurotiomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Bellemerella was introduced by Navarro et al. (1997) to accommodate the newly discovered species B. trapeliae, which grows on Trapelia involute (Tayl.) Hertel. The genus is characterized by perithecioid ascomata with a globular shape and a black coloration and elongate-clavate or subcylindrical, bitunicate asci with abundant colorless spores. Among lichenicolous fungi with perithecioid ascomata, three genera have multispored asci. Two of these, Rosellinula R. Sant. and Muellerella Hepp ex Müll. Arg. contain numerous brown spores per ascus, while the spores of Bellemerella are colorless for a long time and only eventually turn light brown (Navarro et al. 1997).
Calatayud et al. (2001c) introduced two additional species to this genus: Bellemerella acarosporae on Acarospora fuscata and B. polysporinae on Polysporina simplex. These new species differ in ascospore characteristics, with B. polysporina having larger ascospores and B. acarosporae having medialy septate ascospores. Pérez-Ortega et al. (2007) introduced the fourth species of this genus, Bellemerella ritae, which grows on Xylographa sp. To date, there are four species in this genus, and no molecular data are available in Genbank.
Type species: Bellemerella trapeliae Nav.-Ros. & Cl. Roux.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Bellemerella.
Figure 1 – Bellemerella trapeliae redrawn from Navarro et al. (1997). a Ascomata on the verrucose squamules. b, c Vertical section of ascoma. d Ascus. e Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 150 μm, b–d = 10 μm, e = 5 μm.
References
Navarro-Rosinés P, Roux C. 1997 – Weddellomyces protearius sp. nov et Lichenochora xanthoriae, champignons lichénicoles non lichénises parasites de Caloplaca Proteus. Mycotaxon 61, 433–440.
Entry by
Meng QF, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand and School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Guizhou 563000, China.
Published online 25 June 2026