A new species of Licea with capillitium provides new insights into the systematics of the myxomycete family Liceaceae.

Based on a study of sporocarps developed in moist chamber cultures on the bark of Dacrydium elatum collected in Kon Chu Rang Reserve, central Vietnam, we describe a new species, Licea gorgona (Myxomycetes, Liceales). The new species is morphologically distinct from other species of the genus Licea due to its well-developed capillitium threads connected to the peridial margins, minute sporocarps with dark brown spore mass, circumscissile dehiscence via preformed ridges, and spores with ephemeral, rounded warts that detach readily, creating irregularly smooth ("bald") patches. Apart from the morphological study, partial sequences of the nuclear ribosome small subunit 18S rRNA gene (18S nuc rDNA), mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (cox1), mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal gene (17S mt rDNA), and elongation factor-1 alpha gene (EF1α) were also provided. A multigene phylogenetic analysis places L. gorgona within the Lucisporomycetidae clade with other Licea species. We interpret capillitium in L. gorgona as plesiomorphic retention, contrasting with its apomorphic reduction in most other Licea species. Consequently, we propose revising the taxonomic diagnoses of the order Liceales and family Liceaceae to explicitly encompass species with a well-developed capillitium. However, due to the absence of molecular data for Listerella paradoxa and the majority of described Licea species, coupled with unconfirmed plasmodium morphology in L. paradoxa, we defer formal conclusions on the taxonomic status of Listerella and a comprehensive revision of the Licea circumscription.