Taitaia, a novel lichenicolous fungus in tropical montane forests in Kenya (East Africa)

During lichenological explorations of tropical montane forests in Kenya, a remarkable new lichenicolous fungus was repeatedly found growing on thalli of the epiphytic tripartite cyanolichen Crocodia cf. clathrata . Molecular phylogenetic analyses placed the fungus within Gomphillaceae ( Ostropales , Lecanoromycetes), a family mainly of lichen-symbiotic species in the tropics. The anatomical features (unitunicate, non-amyloid asci and simple, septate paraphyses) as well as the hemiangiocarpic ascoma development confirm its taxonomic affinity. DNA sequence data showed the closest relationship was with Gyalidea fritzei , followed by Corticifraga peltigerae . A monotypic genus, Taitaia, is introduced to incorporate a single species, T. aurea . The new fungus is characterized by aggregated ascomata with yellow margins and salmon red discs developing from a single base.