Candelariella aurella, the hidden goldspeck lichen or eggyolk lichen, is a yellow crustose lichen in the family Candelariaceae. It is commonly found on calcareous rock or wood or bark exposed to sunlight and which may have calcareous dust in areas with lime soils. The thallus is areolate with scattered small (0.1–0.3 mm), rounded to elongated yellow areolas. It has a global distribution and occurs on limestone and calcareous sandstone in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, California, and Baja California. It occurs in Joshua Tree National Monument. Phoma candelariellae is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-eating) fungus that has been documented parasitisising the apothecia of Candelariella aurella individuals in Europe. Infection by the fungus results in reduced ascospore production, and eventual destruction of the hymenium of the affected apothecia.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Candelariella aurella across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Pulvinones1
Documented compounds1 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
Pulvinic acid dilactone
present
NPASS
05DNA & barcoding12 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Candelariella aurella has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens12
Marker genes1
eDNA detections555
Countries5
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★ITS
fungal barcode
07Deep time~11 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin11 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard periods (Jurassic, Cretaceous…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. The dashed rules marked ✦ are the five great mass extinctions. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock originmass extinction
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type10 581 records
Wild obs. + sensor7 050
Museum / vouchered3 450
Cultivated / captive5
Other76
Origin
Native677
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO20 160 km²
Depth
0–200 m sunlit543
200–1000 m twilight0
1–4 km midnight0
>4 km abyssal0
median 10 m · max 14 m · 543 records with depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy37% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 383≤1 km 962≤10 km 4 040>10 km 25
6 410 georeferenced · 640 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor7 050
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy48% within 1 km
≤100 m 135≤1 km 254≤10 km 387>10 km 40
816 georeferenced · 2 634 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence3 450
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 5 records without
Open the mapnot free-living5
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions51 of 110 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Wuzhou, CN
267
ASUlocation not on record
111
Uniwersytet Wrocławskilocation not on record
100
LDlocation not on record
98
St. Paul, US
92
TSBlocation not on record
92
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
87
Philadelphia, US
78
Uppsala, SE
73
GZUlocation not on record
68
BDBClocation not on record
67
Madison, US
60
Bozeman, US
55
Berlin, DE
53
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung: Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseumlocation not on record
52
Bronx, US
46
University of Gdansklocation not on record
43
Stockholm, SE
41
Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record
39
Olocation not on record
37
Museo Achille Folettolocation not on record
30
MAlocation not on record
24
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
23
Salzburg, AT
23
Boise, US
22
Helsinki, FI
22
BClocation not on record
21
Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institutelocation not on record
20
Chicago, US
20
SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record
20
Clocation not on record
19
US
18
Santa Barbara, US
14
CJBGlocation not on record
14
Canberra, AU
13
Vancouver, CA
13
Entomological Society of Latvialocation not on record
13
Hobart, AU
12
WTUlocation not on record
12
Trondheim, NO
12
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
11
TROMlocation not on record
10
Durham, US
10
CLUlocation not on record
9
MeiseBGlocation not on record
9
UNITOlocation not on record
8
Madrid, ES
8
Université Lavallocation not on record
7
Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova | Giacomo Doria Natural History Museum in Genoalocation not on record
7
Göteborg, SE
7
Edmonton, CA
6
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
6
PHlocation not on record
5
Bergen, NO
5
UoB-IBlocation not on record
5
M-Lichenslocation not on record
4
Brisbane, AU
4
ULBF-AGRlocation not on record
4
Fort Hayslocation not on record
4
València, ES
4
San Diego, US
4
MNHWlocation not on record
4
Ann Arbor, US
4
San Luis Obispo, US
3
ARMS-MBONlocation not on record
3
ILLSlocation not on record
3
Barcelona, ES
3
Royal Ontario Museumlocation not on record
3
BioFokuslocation not on record
3
BG-NMNHSlocation not on record
3
University of Guelph, OAC Herbariumlocation not on record
2
Oregon State Universitylocation not on record
2
Metsähallituslocation not on record
2
Frauenfeld, CH
2
Weber State Universitylocation not on record
2
Karlsruhe, DE
2
Davis, US
2
University of Manitobalocation not on record
2
South Kensington, GB
2
Clemson, US
2
Tallinn, EE
2
Minia, EG
2
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
2
FLASlocation not on record
2
Knoxville, US
1
Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record
1
Pocatello, US
1
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
1
Kensington, AU
1
San Sebastián, ES
1
Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiejlocation not on record
1
Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Barcelona, ES
1
DClocation not on record
1
University of Western Ontariolocation not on record
1
1
Portland, US
1
US
1
Mlocation not on record
1
Albuquerque, US
1
WU-MYClocation not on record
1
Repubblica di San Marinolocation not on record
1
Pretoria, ZA
1
Oskarshamn, SE
1
Toronto, CA
1
Tromso University Museumlocation not on record
1
British Antarctic Surveylocation not on record
1
Vitoria, ES
1
BRNUlocation not on record
1
110 institutions · 2 144 of 3 450 vouchered records shown · 744 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA555 detections
Where the DNA of Candelariella aurella was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found555
Studies independent surveys4
Countries5
Verifiable raw sequence linked543
Signal confidence: moderateweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median11.9 °C 7.70–16.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter9.40 °C
Max temp (day)13.6 °C 9.10–17.9
Min temp (night)9.90 °C 6.10–14.5
Precipitation94.2 mm/mo 70.9–143
Air humidity64.3 % 63.4–65.2
Vapour deficit507 Pa 368–655
Cloud cover59.5 % 55.9–68.9
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 546 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation4 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility10 008 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System573 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI555 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics12 specimens↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗