[2] Ulf Arup and colleagues transferred the taxon to Calogaya in 2013 following a molecular phylogenetics-led restructuring of the Teloschistaceae.

[3] Native to the high Arctic regions, especially in northern Alaska, this lichen is characterized by its distinctive areolate thallus that is pale orange in hue.

Although the apothecia are infrequently seen, when present, they are round, flat, and have an orange-colored disk, with diameters measuring around 0.4 μm.

Distinguishing features of Caloplaca alaskensis include the particular formation of its soralia and its discrete convex areoles.

Although its primary occurrences are noted in Alaska, it may be more broadly distributed in the high Arctic regions of Canada.