New genus of fungi in Pagoeta

2020/02/04 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Ekologia
• Ingurumena

The aranzadi have described the species. This is a very complex process. And the reason is obvious: to describe a species you must ensure that it has not been described before, that is, it is not known. And then we have to analyze several specimens, so the description has a long scientific work.

According to Ibai Olariaga, mycological of Aranzadi, they have been chasing this species for many years. Pagoeta is located in two streams of the Natural Park. For the first time they met 14 years ago and since then they have acted asking what species was and if it was described above. The conclusion is that this species was not described.

The ends of the fungus hyphae, that is, the ends of the filaments of the fungus, as well as the cylindrical sexual cells that produce spores in this type of fungi, have been analyzed. That is, they have determined well all the physiological characteristics of the fungus.

After these years of work, the myologists of Aranzadi (Ibai Olariaga, Joxepo Teres and Joakin Martin) have given a scientific name to the fungus: Pseudosclerococcum golindoi. It still has no common name, but the scientific name indicates that it is not a new species. A new genre. The word genus indicates, in a simplified way, that it is a group of very similar species. Finding a new species is difficult, but it is still more difficult to find a species of new genus.

In this case, the fungus resembles fungi of a known genus, Sclerococcum, but is different. That is why they have called him Pseudosclerococcum. And the second word of the scientific name, the word that defines the species within the genus, in this case the swallow, has been paid tribute to the Zarauztarra mycologist of Aranzadi, José Luis Albizu. According to Aranzadi’s website, “he was one of the first collectors and has spent half a life studying the world of fungi”.

Congratulations to the team of Aranzadi myologists for having described a new species and a new genus after a hard work. However, there are always things to investigate. Ibai Olariaga believes it can be a tropical fungus that should be found in jungles of islands such as the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Azores or Madeira to see if it is there.

Said. Congratulations to the myologists of Aranzadi.