Fungalpedia – Note 2663, Corticiruptor
Corticiruptor Wedin & Hafellner.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Lecanorales genera incertae sedis, Lecanoromycetidae, Lecanoromycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.
Corticiruptor was introduced by Wedin et al. (1998) to accommodate the type species C. abeloneae, originally described as Arthonia abeloneae P.M. Jørg., which grows on Sticta. A second species, Corticiruptor corallinus, was added by Etayo et al. (2008c), found on Pseudocyphellaria.
Corticiruptor is characterized by small, pale apothecia that emerge from the upper cortex of the host thallus. The asci possess an amyloid tholus with tubes, which stains I+ blue in iodine, and dehisces rostrately. They are accompanied by branched paraphyses. The ascospores are hyaline, unicellular, and lack of a distinct halo (Wedin et al. 1998). Based on the structure of the ascal wall, Wedin et al. (1998) classified this genus within the Lecanorales but did not assign it to a specific family. Two species are currently recognized in this genus, both of which are lichenicolous. However, no sequence data is available, leaving its precise familial placement uncertain.
Type species: Corticiruptor abeloneae (P.M. Jørg.) Wedin & Hafellner.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Corticiruptor.
Figure 1 – Corticiruptor abeloneae redrawn from Wedin et al. (1998). a Section of apothecium. b Paraphyses and asci. c Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 50 μm, b–c = 10 μm.
References
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 2 July 2026