Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii is a small red-capped bolete native to subtropical forests of southern China, growing in ectomycorrhizal partnership with oak, chestnut, and pine trees. It is the type species of the genus Parvixerocomus โ a group defined by caps under four centimeters, yellow pores that bruise blue instantly on injury, and an unusually textured cap surface. No cultivation, chemistry, or clinical data exist for this species; it is known almost entirely from its original taxonomic description and subsequent phylogenetic studies.
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii G. Wu, K. Zhao & Zhu L. Yang 2015 โ Family Boletaceae โ Order Boletales
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii was described formally in 2015 by Gang Wu, Kun Zhao, and Zhu L. Yang in the journal Fungal Diversity, simultaneously establishing a new genus and naming its founding species. This tiny bolete โ cap rarely exceeding three centimeters โ is distinguished by its vivid reddish cap, yellow pore surface that turns blue within seconds of any injury, and slender reddish stipe with a pruinose (finely powdered) surface. It forms ectomycorrhizal (root-partnership) associations with Fagaceae trees such as Lithocarpus, Castanopsis, and Quercus, and also occurs in mixed forests with Chinese red pine (Pinus massoniana). Like all ectomycorrhizal boletes, it cannot be cultivated to fruiting without a living host tree โ making it a candidate for experimental mycorrhizal inoculation work rather than conventional mushroom production. Chemistry, toxicology, ethnomycology, and clinical data for this species are entirely absent from the peer-reviewed literature; the guide below documents exactly what is known, what is inferred from related species, and what remains genuinely open.
What Is Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii?
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii belongs to the family Boletaceae (order Boletales), the largest and most ecologically diverse family of pore-bearing mushrooms. Within Boletaceae, it anchors the genus Parvixerocomus, which was erected specifically to accommodate small Xerocomus-like boletes with an unusual combination of features: caps under four centimeters, yellow tubes that bruise blue, ovoid-ellipsoid spores, and an epithelioid pileipellis (cap surface formed of round-ish cells rather than the elongated hyphae seen in most other boletes). The genus sits in subfamily Xerocomoideae โ a phylogenetically distinct lineage from genera such as Boletus, Xerocomus, Lanmaoa, and Baorangia, distinguished by multilocus molecular analysis.
The species epithet pseudoaokii means "false aokii" โ a direct reference to its resemblance to Parvixerocomus aokii, the closely related species it was initially confused with before microscopic examination and molecular data revealed the distinction. Both species are small, red-capped, and blue-staining, occurring in similar subtropical Chinese forest habitats; separating them reliably requires spore measurements or sequencing.
โก Key FactParvixerocomus pseudoaokii is the type species of its genus โ meaning it serves as the reference specimen against which all other Parvixerocomus species are formally defined. Its morphology establishes the baseline for what a Parvixerocomus is, making it taxonomically significant beyond its own biology.
The species is currently known only from southern and southwestern China: Yunnan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and potentially other subtropical provinces where its Fagaceae and pine hosts grow. It appears in the understory of humid evergreen and mixed pine-oak forests, fruiting scattered across the forest floor in late spring and early summer. Its small size means it is rarely a conspicuous find, and it does not appear in any commercial edible mushroom market or medicinal context.
โก On the Name "Little Red Ruby"The phrase "Little Red Ruby" does not appear in any taxonomic database, scientific paper, or field guide in connection with this species. It is informal, has no documented search volume, and is not a recognized common name in any language. Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii is the species' only reliable identifier. Any use of "Little Red Ruby" should be clearly labeled as an informal, non-standard label.
How Is Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Classified?
| Rank | Classification |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Phylum | Basidiomycota |
| Class | Agaricomycetes |
| Order | Boletales |
| Family | Boletaceae |
| Subfamily | Xerocomoideae (clade 29 sensu Wu et al. 2014) |
| Genus | Parvixerocomus |
| Species | Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii G. Wu, K. Zhao & Zhu L. Yang |
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii was described as a new species in a new genus simultaneously โ meaning it was never transferred from another genus and has no basionym or synonyms. The genus Parvixerocomus is registered in MycoBank under MB 811420; the species under MB 811421. All major databases โ Index Fungorum, MycoBank, GBIF, and NCBI โ concordantly place it in Boletaceae with no alternative family interpretations documented.
The holotype voucher is HKAS 80480, deposited at the Herbarium of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. A second sequenced collection (HKAS 77032) also contributes reference sequences. The phylogenetic framework for Parvixerocomus was built from nrLSU, rpb1, and rpb2 loci; no ITS sequence for this species has been published, which is a notable barcode gap (discussed further in the genetics section).
Reference Sequences
| Marker | Voucher | GenBank Accession |
|---|---|---|
| nrLSU | HKAS 77032 | KP658467 |
| nrLSU | HKAS 80480 (holotype) | KP658468 |
| rpb2 | HKAS 77032 | KP658469 |
| rpb2 | HKAS 80480 (holotype) | KP658470 |
| rpb1 | HKAS 77032 | KP658471 |
| rpb1 | HKAS 80480 (holotype) | KP658472 |
| ITS | โ | Not published |
How Do You Identify Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii?
The following description is drawn directly from the protologue (original species description) by Wu et al. 2015, published in Fungal Diversity. This is the authoritative morphological reference; all measurements and color codes are species-specific and documented.
Macroscopic Features
The defining field character is the combination of a small (under 3 cm) reddish cap with a dry, velvety surface and yellow pores that turn vivid blue within seconds of any pressure or cutting. The blue reaction occurs in cap context, pore surface, tubes, and stipe โ making P. pseudoaokii one of the most conspicuously blue-staining small boletes in its range. The spore print color is not explicitly given in the protologue but is expected to be olive-brown to yellow-brown based on the family pattern; this remains formally undocumented for this species.
Microscopic Features
Microscopic examination is essential for confident species-level identification within Parvixerocomus. Key characters from the protologue include basidia measuring 20โ35 ร 9โ12 ยตm, clavate and predominantly 4-spored. Basidiospores are 7โ8.5(9) ร 4โ5(5.5) ยตm, ovoid and inequilateral in side view, with a Q (length-to-width ratio) of 1.47โ1.89 (mean Qm 1.66 ยฑ 0.11) โ placing them at the shorter, more ovoid end of the genus. Walls are smooth, inamyloid (not reacting to Melzer's reagent), and brownish-yellow in KOH. Clamp connections are absent in all tissues examined. The pileipellis (cap skin) is an epithelium up to 100 ยตm thick, formed of rounded cell chains โ a structure uncommon in Boletaceae and one of the defining characters of the genus.
Lookalike Species
Very similar in habit, color, and habitat. Distinguished by longer spores (9โ10(11) ร 4โ5 ยตm; Qm 1.67) and slightly larger basidia; context stains darker blue to blackish-blue when cut (vs. light to mid-blue in P. pseudoaokii). The stipe and cap of P. aokii tend toward more vivid red to carrot-red tones. Spore measurement is the most reliable macroscopic separator.
Broader spores (7.5โ11 ร 5โ6.5 ยตm) and longer pleurocystidia (70โ89 ร 12โ15 ยตm) separate X. parvulus from P. pseudoaokii. Macro differences alone are insufficient for reliable separation; microscopy is required.
Narrower spores (6.6โ10 ร 3โ3.3 ยตm) and a distinctive purplish-red staining reaction (rather than blue) when injured. The staining color difference is the clearest macroscopic field character distinguishing this species from P. pseudoaokii.
Known from India; has markedly more elongated spores with Q 1.86โ2.7, compared to 1.4โ1.89 in P. pseudoaokii. Unlikely to be confused in the field given geographic separation, but relevant for herbarium and sequence comparisons.
โ ID PitfallWithin Parvixerocomus, cap color and bluing intensity alone are insufficient for species-level identification. Spore Q ratio, cystidial dimensions, and ideally molecular barcoding (ITS + LSU or rpb2) are needed for confident determination. No ITS sequence for P. pseudoaokii is currently published, which limits sequence-based identification through standard databases.
How Is Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Placed Phylogenetically?
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii sits in subfamily Xerocomoideae of Boletaceae, a lineage resolved as distinct from the core Boletus-group genera by multilocus phylogenies. The original 2015 phylogenetic analysis used nrLSU, rpb1, and rpb2 sequence data, placing Parvixerocomus as a well-supported independent genus within the subfamily. Subsequent Boletaceae phylogenies โ including Wang et al. (2024) โ confirm this placement by including P. pseudoaokii explicitly as a reference taxon in LSU-based phylograms, with no indication of large intraspecific divergence in that marker.
The key limitation is the absence of a published ITS sequence for P. pseudoaokii. ITS (the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear ribosomal DNA) is the standard fungal barcode used in GenBank BLAST searches and online sequence databases. Without it, a researcher sequencing a field collection cannot readily compare against P. pseudoaokii in the most widely used identification pipeline. Studies on the related P. matheranensis explicitly noted that ITS alone is insufficiently discriminatory for species-level resolution within Parvixerocomus, recommending combined ITS + LSU + rpb2 + tef1-ฮฑ data โ a multilocus approach that is more time-consuming but substantially more reliable for this genus.
No whole-genome sequencing project, population genetic analysis, or SNP-based diversity study has been published for P. pseudoaokii or the genus Parvixerocomus as a whole. The species is known from scattered collections across a wide subtropical range in China, but whether cryptic genetic lineages exist across this range has not been investigated.
Where Does Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Grow?
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii is ectomycorrhizal (EM) โ meaning it forms a mutualistic partnership with the roots of living trees, wrapping fine root tips in a fungal sheath and exchanging mineral nutrients (particularly phosphorus and nitrogen) for plant sugars. This trophic mode is fundamental to understanding why the species cannot be cultivated conventionally: it requires a living host tree as a carbon source. Without that partnership, the fungus can sustain mycelial growth in culture but cannot complete its lifecycle and produce fruiting bodies.
Documented host associations span two major tree groups. The primary hosts are Fagaceae โ specifically Lithocarpus (stone oaks), Castanopsis (chinquapins), and Quercus (oaks) โ which dominate the subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests of southern China where this species occurs. Mixed forests containing Pinus massoniana (Chinese red pine), where pine grows alongside Fagaceae, also support it. This dual-host flexibility is ecologically notable: many EM boletes are more narrowly host-specific.
| Province / Region | Specific Localities | Habitat Type |
|---|---|---|
| Yunnan | Jinghong, Dadugang | Subtropical Fagaceae forest; July fruiting |
| Jiangxi | Longnan, Jiulian Mountain | Mixed pine-oak forest; late MayโJune fruiting |
| Guangdong | Guangzhou (Baiyun Mt., Huolu Mt.) | Peri-urban subtropical forest; late MayโJune fruiting |
| Wider subtropical China | Probable but undocumented | Any subtropical Fagaceae- or Pinus massoniana-dominated forest |
| Outside China | Not recorded | No confirmed reports; Indian Parvixerocomus are distinct species |
The fruiting season inferred from collection dates is late spring to summer: late May through June in Jiangxi and Guangdong, July in Yunnan. This fits the subtropical monsoon climate pattern of southern China, where fungal fruiting is driven by rainfall and warm, humid conditions. The microhabitat is forest floor beneath host trees, scattered in the leaf litter and upper mineral soil, with no documented preference for edges, paths, or specific microtopography.
Conservation status for P. pseudoaokii has not been formally assessed by IUCN or any national Chinese red-list program. The species has been documented from multiple provinces including Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou โ a heavily visited peri-urban nature area โ suggesting it is not immediately rare, though lack of systematic survey work makes abundance assessment impossible.
Can You Cultivate Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii?
Conventional mushroom-house cultivation โ fruiting on grain bags, sawdust blocks, or compost without a living tree โ is not possible for Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii. This is not a gap in technique; it is a fundamental biological constraint. As an ectomycorrhizal fungus, P. pseudoaokii depends on its host tree for the carbon compounds that fuel fruiting body development. Without that partnership, mycelium can grow in culture but has no metabolic pathway to produce mushrooms.
No peer-reviewed cultivation study, agar culture description, liquid culture characterization, or host-seedling inoculation trial has been published for Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii or any other Parvixerocomus species. Everything in the cultivation section below is extrapolated from the behavior of other ectomycorrhizal Boletaceae and should be read as reasoned inference rather than documented protocol.
Why Conventional Cultivation Is Not Feasible
Host Dependency
The fungus obtains most of its carbon through the mycorrhizal interface with Fagaceae or pine roots. Without a living host supplying photosynthate, the fungus cannot accumulate the resources needed to form a fruiting body.
Long Establishment Timeline
In other EM boletes, mycorrhizal establishment on tree seedlings typically takes 1โ3 years before any fruiting is possible. Even in controlled nursery conditions, fruiting remains unpredictable and low-frequency.
No Published Protocols
No experimental cultivation โ even greenhouse host-inoculation trials โ has been attempted or published for any Parvixerocomus species. The genus has no commercial food or medicine value to motivate that research investment.
Agar Culture Is Possible, Fruiting Is Not
Mycelium from fresh fruiting bodies can be isolated onto agar and expanded to liquid culture or grain โ but this inoculum cannot be used to fruit mushrooms in the absence of a host tree. Its value is experimental and research-oriented.
Agar Culture Behavior (Extrapolated from EM Boletaceae)
No published description of colony morphology, growth rate, or medium preferences for P. pseudoaokii on agar exists. The following is extrapolated from behavior documented in other ectomycorrhizal Boletaceae and must be treated as a reasonable experimental baseline, not established protocol.
โก Contamination NoteEctomycorrhizal boletes grow significantly more slowly than common contaminants such as Trichoderma spp., Mucor, and airborne bacteria. Rigorous aseptic technique, selective media, and direct isolation from fresh (not dried) basidiomata are essential. Standard mushroom-house contamination mitigation is insufficient โ EM culture requires laboratory-grade sterile technique throughout.
Host Inoculation Pathway (Experimental โ No Published Trials for This Species)
If the goal is eventual fruiting body production โ a multi-year, experimental undertaking with no guarantee of success โ the pathway extrapolated from EM Boletaceae research would proceed as follows:
Mycelium Isolation
Isolate mycelium from a fresh, uncontaminated fruiting body onto MEA or PDA under sterile conditions. Confirm identity by morphology and, ideally, sequencing.
Liquid Culture Production
Expand mycelium into liquid culture for inoculum production. Use glucose/yeast extract or defined media. EM boletes can produce adequate liquid biomass even without a host.
Seedling Inoculation
Inoculate young seedlings of target host species โ Lithocarpus, Castanopsis, Quercus, or Pinus massoniana โ grown in sterilized or pasteurized nursery substrate. Maintain for 6โ18 months until EM root tips form.
Field Establishment
Transplant inoculated seedlings to acidic soil under appropriate forest conditions. Fruiting, if it occurs at all, typically takes several years post-transplant and remains highly variable across EM bolete species.
About Out-Grow's Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Liquid Culture
Out-Grow's liquid culture provides viable mycelium of Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii suitable for transfer to agar, grain, or experimental substrate. Because this is an ectomycorrhizal bolete, the liquid culture is not designed for conventional substrate fruiting โ it cannot produce mushrooms without a living host tree. Its appropriate applications are agar and grain expansion for mycorrhizal inoculation experiments, mycelial biomass production for physiological or metabolomic research, and as a living specimen of a taxonomically significant, rarely cultivated bolete. Advanced hobbyists and researchers exploring Fagaceae seedling inoculation projects will find this culture a useful starting material.
What Bioactive Compounds Does Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Contain?
No analytical chemistry studies of any kind have been published on Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii. There are no GC-MS volatile profiles, no polysaccharide characterizations, no terpenoid or phenolic analyses, no antioxidant assays (DPPH, FRAP), and no MIC or ICโ โ values. The chemistry of this species is completely unknown.
The compound or compounds responsible for the red cap pigmentation and for the rapid blue staining reaction have not been identified in published analytical chemistry for this species. This is a genuine research gap, not a matter of inaccessible data.
The yellowish-red to rose-red coloration of the cap has not been chemically characterized for this species. In other red-capped boletes, pulvinic acid derivatives are sometimes responsible, but this has not been reported for P. pseudoaokii and cannot be assumed.
No species-specific dataRapid blue staining in boletes typically involves variegatic acid or similar compounds that oxidize on tissue damage. In other bluing Boletaceae, variegatic acid-type quinones and related metabolites are implicated โ but none have been identified in P. pseudoaokii specifically.
Inferred from related generaMany Boletaceae produce bioactive compounds in these classes; no data of any kind exist for P. pseudoaokii or Parvixerocomus generally. This is one of the clearest research gaps for the genus.
No species-specific dataThe protologue records the odor as mild and unremarkable. No GC-MS or sensory analysis of the volatile profile has been published. Whether the species produces any characteristic aromatic compounds is unknown.
No species-specific dataโก Note on Related-Species ChemistryPigmented and blue-staining boletes in other genera sometimes contain pulvinic acid derivatives, variegatic acid, or gyrocyanin-type quinones. These compounds have not been reported for Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii and should not be assumed to be present. Any chemistry section drawing on related-genus data must clearly label those findings as coming from different species โ not from P. pseudoaokii.
Is Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Safe to Eat?
Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii has not been evaluated for edibility. It does not appear on any edible mushroom list, commercial food market record, or culinary guide. No toxicity cases, poisoning reports, or named toxins have been documented for this species in clinical or toxicological literature.
The correct interpretation of "no known toxicity" for an unstudied small bolete is not "safe to eat" โ it means "has never been assessed." The original protologue notes that many wild Boletaceae in southwestern China are edible and sold at markets, but P. pseudoaokii specifically is not highlighted as a commercial edible, nor is it listed among poisonous species. Its small basidiomata (cap under 3 cm) make it an unlikely food mushroom regardless of safety status.
โ Do Not ConsumeParvixerocomus pseudoaokii has no documented edibility record and no formal toxicological screening. Consumption is not advised. The species and its culture should be treated as non-edible research material. For culture handling: standard lab precautions apply โ gloves, no inhalation of dried spore aerosols. There is no evidence of contact toxicity.
No drug interactions, contraindications, or allergen profiles have been documented because no clinical or pharmacological data exist for this species.
Does Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Have a Medicinal or Ethnomycological History?
No ethnomycological records, traditional medicinal uses, folk use reports, or herbal medicine texts have been found that mention Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii or the genus Parvixerocomus. The species was formally described in 2015 and is a recently recognized, scientifically obscure taxon โ too recently named to have accumulated traditional use documentation of any kind.
Modern supplement and nutraceutical markets do not include P. pseudoaokii as an ingredient. Market attention in the bolete family focuses on Boletus edulis and related porcini-group species. No health claims for this species appear in any reviewed source, and any such claims encountered in hobbyist or commercial contexts would be entirely speculative and unsupported.
No human clinical trials, in vitro bioactivity studies, or animal pharmacology studies involving P. pseudoaokii have been published. There is no clinical evidence of any kind โ beneficial or harmful โ for this species beyond generic mushroom-handling safety considerations.
What Makes Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii Remarkable?
Type Species of a Novel Genus
P. pseudoaokii anchors Parvixerocomus โ a genus defined by its unusual combination of tiny basidiomata, epithelioid pileipellis, yellow tubes, and rapid blue staining. As the type species, it is the morphological standard against which all other Parvixerocomus species are compared and defined. Taxonomically, it is the most important specimen in the genus.
Instant Blue Staining Throughout
The bluing reaction in P. pseudoaokii is rapid and affects all tissues โ cap context, pores, tubes, and stipe โ simultaneously. In other bluing boletes, the reaction may be slower, limited to specific tissues, or change color through intermediate stages. The uniformity and speed of staining here is among the most complete documented in Boletaceae at this scale.
Dual-Host Flexibility in a Subtropical System
Many EM boletes show strong host specificity. P. pseudoaokii is documented with both Fagaceae (broadleaf evergreen trees) and Pinus massoniana (pine) โ a gymnosperm โ in mixed forests. This cross-lineage host flexibility, if confirmed by mycorrhizal root tip morphotyping, would be ecologically significant for understanding EM bolete generalism in subtropical China.
Short-Ovoid Spore Morphology at the Genus Extreme
Spore Q ratio in P. pseudoaokii (Qm 1.66) places it at the shorter, rounder end of the genus spectrum, clearly distinct from P. aokii (Qm 1.67, but with longer absolute dimensions) and P. matheranensis (Q 1.86โ2.7). This makes spore measurement the key diagnostic character within Parvixerocomus, and P. pseudoaokii the reference for the compact-spored end of the range.
Peri-Urban Mountain Habitat
Collections from Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou โ a popular urban park and one of China's most visited nature areas โ suggest that P. pseudoaokii persists in disturbed peri-urban forest ecosystems. For a mycorrhizal bolete that requires old-growth forest conditions in many parts of its family, this is a notable ecological resilience.
Almost Everything Is Unknown
For a species described a decade ago, the gaps in fundamental knowledge โ no ITS barcode, no culture characterization, no chemistry, no population data โ are striking. This is partly a reflection of the species' small size, narrow commercial interest, and southern Chinese distribution, but it also means there is essentially no competition for any researcher willing to undertake basic biology work on this genus.
Frequently Asked Questions About Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii
What does "Little Red Ruby" mean for this species?
"Little Red Ruby" does not appear in any taxonomic database, scientific paper, field guide, or verified common name record for this species. It is informal and has no documented search volume or scientific standing. Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii is the only reliable name for searching, citing, or identifying this species. Any use of "Little Red Ruby" should clearly identify it as an informal, non-standard label rather than an accepted common name.
Why does Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii turn blue when cut?
The blue staining results from an oxidative chemical reaction that occurs when the fungal tissue is damaged โ similar in principle to the bluing seen in many other Boletaceae. In the best-studied bluing boletes, the reaction involves compounds such as variegatic acid that oxidize rapidly on contact with air when cell structure is disrupted. The specific compound or compounds responsible for the bluing reaction in P. pseudoaokii have not been chemically characterized for this species specifically.
Can Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii be grown from a liquid culture at home?
The mycelium can be cultivated on agar and in liquid culture, and can be transferred to grain. However, producing fruiting bodies without a living host tree is not feasible โ this species is ectomycorrhizal and requires a symbiotic root partnership to fruit. A liquid culture is appropriate for experimental research, host seedling inoculation projects, or mycelial biomass studies. It is not a suitable starting point for conventional home mushroom growing.
How do you distinguish Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii from Parvixerocomus aokii?
The two species are very similar in the field. The most reliable separation is spore measurement: P. pseudoaokii has shorter, more ovoid spores (7โ8.5 ร 4โ5 ยตm; Qm 1.66) than P. aokii (9โ10(11) ร 4โ5 ยตm; Qm 1.67 but longer overall). The staining reaction in P. aokii tends toward darker blue to blackish-blue when cut, compared to lighter blue in P. pseudoaokii. Both characters require fresh material and a hand lens or microscope for reliable assessment.
Is Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii edible?
No edibility assessment has been conducted for this species. It does not appear on any edible mushroom list and has no documented consumption history. "No known toxicity" does not mean safe to eat โ it means the species has never been evaluated. Given its small size and lack of any culinary tradition, consumption is inadvisable and not recommended.
Where can I find Parvixerocomus pseudoaokii in the wild?
The species is documented from Yunnan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces in southern China, including the accessible Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou. It fruits scattered under Fagaceae trees (Lithocarpus, Castanopsis, Quercus) and in mixed Fagaceaeโpine forests, typically from late May through July depending on latitude and elevation. Its small cap size (under 3 cm) means it is easily overlooked. Confident identification in the field requires spore measurement; the closest lookalike, P. aokii, occurs in the same habitats.