Miriquidica gyrizans
Miriquidica gyrizans is a species of lichen-forming fungus in the family Lecanoraceae. It is found in Alaska and the Yukon, where it grows on granitic boulders. Taxonomy The lichen was described as a new species in 2020 by British lichenologist Alan Fryday. The type specimen was collected in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, of Glacier Bay National Park (Alaska, on a mountain west of Dundas Bay. Here it was found growing on the upper surface of a flat granitic boulder on an alpine ridge at an altitude of . DNA analysis of specimens from the type locality confirm a placement in the genus Miriquidica, although there is not yet enough known about other members of the genus to clarify any closer phylogenetic relationships. Description The thallus of Miriquidica gyrizans has no definite boundaries, consisting of areoles (small, rounded to polygonal or irregular areas) that are either contiguous or dispersed. These areoles, which measure 0.1–0.2 mm across, are pale brown with a layer of dead fungal cells that imparts a grey tinge. Areoles associate with the cyanobacteria Gloeocapsa, whose reddish cells–measuring 7.5 to 12.5 μm in diameter–group together in groups of two to four. The mycobiont partner of the lichen is chlorococcoid