Catinella
Catinella Boud., Hist. Class. Discom. Eur. (Paris): 150 (1907).
Index Fungorum number: IF 845; Facesoffungi number: FoF 07648, 3 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 1 species with molecular data.
Saprobic on host. Sexual morph: Apothecia large, dark olivaceous to black, single to solitary, or scattered, mostly superficial, slightly immersed in host tissue, flattened, circular to subcircular, discoid, semicircular in section, edge entire, slightly convex at the top, raised from the base. Excipulum thick at base, parenchymatous, with thin-walled, deeply pigmented, subangular to globose cells. Hymenium thick. Paraphyses cylindric, deptate, occasionally branched, sometimes longer than the asci. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, narrowly cylindric-clavate, rounded apex with an indistinct ocular chamber. Ascospores uniseriate, elliptic or elliptic-clavate, slightly narrowed near the middle, two-guttulate, pale olive brown to deep brown. Asexual morph: Unknown.
Type species: Catinella olivacea (Batsch) Boud.
Notes: Catinella was introduced by Boudier (1907) with C. olivacea as type species. Catinella is characterized by superficial, flattened, coriaceous thyriothecia, broadly cylindrical, apedicellate asci and light-brown to hyaline, 2-celled ascospores. Catinella was previously treated in Leotiomycetes based on morphology namely the structure of apothecia, ascal tip (Greif et al. 2007). In the phylogenetic analysis of Greif et al. (2007) based on LSU and SSU sequence data, Catinella formed a distinct lineage in Dothideomycetes and does not have affinities with the Leotiomycetes as proposed by previous authors (Seaver 1961; Korf 1973; Nannfeldt 1932; Dennis 1977; Spooner and Legon 1999). Catinella olivacea was previously known as Peziza olivacea but is not congeneric with the type species of Peziza, P. vesiculosa. Catinella has also been initially referred to several families by various authors. Catinella was referred to Pezizaceae based on the bright color and fleshy structure of the fresh apothecia by Saccardo and Rehm (Greif et al. 2007). Other authors such as Fries and Karsten placed Catinella in Bulgariaceae based on the gelatinous nature of the excipulum but that characters were not sufficiently visible to relate Catinella with Bulgaria inquinans or Sarcosoma rufum (Greif et al. 2007). Some writers such as Berkeley, Phillips and Massee suggested the placement of Catinella in Patellariaceae based on gelatinous ascomata when fresh becoming dry, sessile, asci opening by a pore, not turning blue with iodine, continuous, pale brown ascospores and paraphyses cohered at the tips to form an epithecium. Ekanayaka et al. in Hongsanan et al. (2020b) introduced Catinellaceae to accommodate Catinella based on cupulate apothecia, unitunicate asci, aseptate ascospores and phylogenetic analysis. Catinella is morphologically and phylogenetically a distinct and type genus of Catinellaceae. Molecular markers available for Catinella include LSU, SSU and ITS.
Recent News
Recent paper to be publishedRecent Genus
TrichothallusStrigopodia
Xylopezia
Recent Species
Xylopezia hemisphaericaXenosporium mirabile
Wettsteinina gigantospora