Brown Cobblestone Lichen vs

Acarospora fuscata compared with Chrysosphaerella coronacircumspina

Key Differences

Brown Cobblestone Lichen is Least Concern while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Cobblestone Lichen
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Chromista (Chromista)
Phylum	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Ochrophyta (Ochrophyta)
Class	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Chrysophyceae (Chrysophyceae)
Order	Acarosporales (Acarosporales)	Ochromonadales (Ochromonadales)
Family	Acarosporaceae	Paraphysomonadaceae
Genus	Acarospora	Chrysosphaerella
Species	Acarospora fuscata	Chrysosphaerella coronacircumspina

Conservation Status

Brown Cobblestone Lichen

LC — Least Concern

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Cobblestone Lichen
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Cobblestone Lichen

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and United States.

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Sweden.

Brown Cobblestone Lichen

The Brown Cobblestone Lichen (Acarospora fuscata) is a species in the genus Acarospora. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Chrysosphaerella coronacircumspina is a colonial chrysophyte alga in the genus Chrysosphaerella, family Chromulinaceae. Its compound specific epithet corona-circumspina (Latin: crown of surrounding spines) references the distinctive arrangement of silica spines forming a ring or crown around each cell in the colony. Each cell in a Chrysosphaerella colony bears both flat siliceous scales and long, projecting spines, with the spine arrangement being species-specific and taxonomically diagnostic. The colonial organization is held together by organic matrix material, creating a spherical or semi-spherical aggregate visible under light microscopy. C. coronacircumspina is found in freshwater phytoplankton communities in Scandinavia, consistent with the broader distribution of Chrysosphaerella in cold-temperate and subarctic lakes. The silica structures produced by Chrysosphaerella cells are deposited in lake sediments upon cell death, creating millennial-scale paleoenvironmental archives. Chrysophytes are sensitive to lake acidification, nutrients, and temperature, making them useful climate proxies in paleolimnological research. The species has not been assessed for conservation status by the IUCN and is listed as Not Evaluated.