This little-known Verrucaria species forms a whitish, often cracked thallus when dry, and conspicuous semi-immersed perithecia with an exposed apex. The involucrellum is closely adnate and usually reaches to about half the height of the perithecia. In its basic characters it is virtually identical to V. muralis, from which it differs mainly in ecology.
The lichen is reported primarily from periodically inundated calcareous and siliceous stones along streams and rivers (e.g. Thüs & Schultz 2009), but records also exist from shaded calcareous stones in woodland (e.g. Orange et al. 2023). The only molecularly confirmed record from the Czech Republic belongs to this latter habitat type and comes from a piece of marlstone in Obora Hvězda in Prague. Three historical localities were also reported by Servít (1954), who, however, did not mention occurrence at inundated sites at all.
The species was originally described in the mid-19th century as V. submersa Schaer., but because an earlier taxon with the same name already existed, a replacement name (nomen novum) was later introduced as V. submersella (Servít 1954). Phylogenetically, V. submersella is close to mainly calcicolous aquatic species of the V. elaeomelana group (Thüs et al. 2015).
Literature: Orange A., Cannon P., Prieto M., Coppins B., Sanderson N. & Simkin J. (2023): Verrucariales: Verrucariaceae. – Revisions of British and Irish Lichens 31: 1–104. Palice Z. & Malíček J. (2025): Lišejníky přírodní památky Obora Hvězda v Praze. – Bohemia centralis 39: 99–135. Servít M. (1954): Československé lišejníky čeledi Verrucariaceae. – Nakladatelství ČSAV, Praha. Thüs H. & Schultz M. (2009): Fungi: Lichens Pt. 1 (Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa / Freshwater Flora of Central Europe). – Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg. Thüs H., Orange A., Gueidan C., Pykälä J., Ruberti C., Lo Schiavo F. & Nascimbene J. (2015): Revision of the Verrucaria elaeomelaena species complex and morphologically similar freshwater lichens (Verrucariaceae, Ascomycota). – Phytotaxa 197: 161–185.
taxonomic classification:Ascomycota → Eurotiomycetes → Verrucariales → Verrucariaceae → Verrucaria
All records: 1, confirmed 1. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).