Spinomyces
genus of lichens
Spinomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Gomphillaceae. It has six species of leaf-dwelling lichens.
Taxonomy
The genus name Spinomyces has a complex taxonomic history. In 1961, the mycologists Augusto Chaves Batista and Generosa Emília Pontual Peres first proposed the name Spinomyces, using a specimen they called S. genipae. However, when scientists later examined this original specimen, they discovered it was actually a mixture of two different lichens – one that appeared to be Tricharia albostrigosa (without reproductive structures) and another species of Echinoplaca. Because Batista and Peres published the name without providing a formal scientific description as required by naming rules, Spinomyces was not considered a valid genus name at that time.
In 2023, when the lichenologists Amanda Xavier-Leite, Marcela Cáceres, and Robert Lücking needed a name for a newly recognised group of lichens centred around what was then called Aderkomyces albostrigosus, they decided to resurrect and formally validate the name Spinomyces. Rather than basing it on the mixed-up Echinoplaca specimen as had been previously suggested by some researchers in 1998, they chose to establish the genus with Tricharia albostrigosa (now Spinomyces albostrigosus) as its type species.
Description
These lichens form a continuous, smooth layer on leaf surfaces, characterised by distinctive white bristles. Their reproductive structures (apothecia) sit directly on the surface and typically range in colour from yellowish to reddish-brown.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Spinomyces” as genus of lichens. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as genus of lichens. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q131465620. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1961, 2023 and 1998.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Spinomyces” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.