Morphological characteristics and analyses of molecular sequence data (ITS, mtSSU) indicate that the austral-marine lichen Lichina pygmaea var. intermedia is distinct from the chiefly European marine species L. confinis and L. pygmaea. It is thus proposed to treat var. intermedia as a separate species. Lichina intermedia differs from L. confinis chiefly in the distinctly corticated branches, and deviates from L. pygmaea in the shorter and thinner branches. Diagnostic differences between the three species are summarized and distribution patterns discussed.