Search

Previous studies have established that the 5′ end of the mitochondrial gene COI (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) is useful for rapid and reliable identification of red algal species and have demonstrated that our understanding of red algal biodiversity and biogeography is fragmentary. In this context, we are completing a thorough sampling along the Canadian coast and using the DNA barcode for the assignment of collections to genetic species to explore algal diversity in the Canadian flora. In the present study, we provide results regarding diversity of members of the red algal family Phyllophoraceae. We have analyzed 354 individuals from the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts of Canada, as well as 26 specimens from the USA, Europe, and Australia, resolving 29 species based on the analyses of the DNA barcode. Twenty-three of these genetic species were present in Canada where only 18 species are currently recognized, including Ceratocolax hartzii Rosenv., which was in the same genetic species group as its host Coccotylus truncatus (Pall.) M. J. Wynne et N. J. Heine and is thus transferred to Coccotylus, C. hartzii (Rosenv.) comb. nov., but retained as a distinct species owing to its unique habit and phenology. Our results revealed the presence of cryptic diversity within the genera Coccotylus, Mastocarpus, Ozophora, and Stenogramme, for which we resurrect Coccotylus brodiei (Turner) Kütz. and describe Mastocarpus pachenicus sp. nov., Ozophora lanceolata sp. nov., and Stenogramme bamfieldiensis sp. nov., leaving a multitude of unnamed Mastocarpus spp. in need of further taxonomic study. In addition, we report range extensions into British Columbia of Besa papillaeformis Setch., previously known only from its type and nearby localities in California; Gymnogongrus crenulatus (Turner) J. Agardh, recorded only from the Atlantic; and Stenogramme cf. rhodymenioides Joly et Alveal, previously only known from South America. Finally, the phylogenetic affinities of the Canadian species of Phyllophoraceae characterized in this study were investigated using LSU rDNA, RUBISCO LSU ( rbcL), and combined analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of the red algal genus Predaea are described from Australia. The first, Predaea aurora Kraft et G.W. Saunders, sp. nov., is unusual in its cool-temperate distribution and in a number of anatomical attributes, most notably the rhizoid-like habit of the nutritive filaments associated with the auxiliary cells. The second species, Predaea tumescens Kraft et G.W. Saunders, sp. nov., inhabits a coral reef habitat more typical of the genus but nonetheless differs in a number of anatomical details from other reported species. Nuclear small subunit rDNA sequences have confirmed the affinity of P. aurora to other species currently included in this genus. Molecular analyses further indicate that Predaea belongs in the Nemastomataceae and that the Nemastomataceae and Schizymeniaceae are sister taxa in an independent clade of “lineage 4” florideophyte algae. As such, a proposal is made to resurrect the Nemastomatales Kylin emend. G.W. Saunders et Kraft to accommodate these two families. Within the Schizymeniaceae, the Australian-endemic Platoma australicum and Platoma foliosum were only distantly related to the other included Platoma , Schizymenia , and Titanophora spp. We therefore propose Wetherbeella G.W. Saunders et Kraft, gen. nov., to accommodate these two species. An additional outcome of our molecular analyses is that the genus Tsengia is not a member of the Nemastomataceae (where it is currently placed) but rather forms an independent lineage in the Halymeniales that we now designate as the Tsengiaceae G.W. Saunders et Kraft, fam. nov. Finally, the South African Nemastoma lanceolatum J. Agardh is transferred to Tsengia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of the red algal genus Predaea are described from Australia. The first, Predaea aurora Kraft et G.W. Saunders, sp. nov., is unusual in its cool-temperate distribution and in a number of anatomical attributes, most notably the rhizoid-like habit of the nutritive filaments associated with the auxiliary cells. The second species, Predaea tumescens Kraft et G.W. Saunders, sp. nov., inhabits a coral reef habitat more typical of the genus but nonetheless differs in a number of anatomical details from other reported species. Nuclear small subunit rDNA sequences have confirmed the affinity of P. aurora to other species currently included in this genus. Molecular analyses further indicate that Predaea belongs in the Nemastomataceae and that the Nemastomataceae and Schizymeniaceae are sister taxa in an independent clade of “lineage 4” florideophyte algae. As such, a proposal is made to resurrect the Nemastomatales Kylin emend. G.W. Saunders et Kraft to accommodate these two families. Within the Schizymeniaceae, the Australian-endemic Platoma australicum and Platoma foliosum were only distantly related to the other included Platoma , Schizymenia , and Titanophora spp. We therefore propose Wetherbeella G.W. Saunders et Kraft, gen. nov., to accommodate these two species. An additional outcome of our molecular analyses is that the genus Tsengia is not a member of the Nemastomataceae (where it is currently placed) but rather forms an independent lineage in the Halymeniales that we now designate as the Tsengiaceae G.W. Saunders et Kraft, fam. nov. Finally, the South African Nemastoma lanceolatum J. Agardh is transferred to Tsengia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]