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Many intertidal rocky habitats of the Chilean coast were dominated by the dark green thalli of a mat-forming Codium. This green seaweed was ecologically important because it formed a permanent belt by coalescence between conspecific thalli, and thus it affected substrate dominance and community structure. Six species of mat-forming Codium have been recorded in Chile; the adherent Codium in central and northern Chile has been recognized as C. dimorphum, a species first described from the Guaitecas Islands in southern Chile. We analyzed 320 Codium specimens collected from 11 sites spanning the entire Chilean coastline. Morphological and rbcL sequence data revealed the presence of two distinct species with non-overlapping geographical distributions. Codium dimorphum, which is characterized by dimorphic utricles (inner utricles having thin apical walls, and outer utricles having thick apical walls), was found to be restricted to the southern Chilean coast. Specimens from central and northern Chile with uniform utricles were described as a new species, C. bernabei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Codium, C. apiculatum P.C. Silva, M.E. Chacana et H.B.S. Womersley, is described on the basis of several subtidal collections from southern and southwestern Australia. It is characterized by its utricles, which are stout, subcylindical to slightly clavate, bearing several hairs (or hair scars) very close to the apex, and by the branch tips, which are apiculate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The names Codium schmiederi and Codium dawsonii are validated by the provision of designated types. The species to which the invalidly published name C. schmiederi applies is known only from Isla Guadalupe and Rocas Alijos, Baja California, Mexico. The history of phycological exploration of these two remote localities is detailed. The species to which the invalidly published name C. dawsonii applies is found in those two localities as well as on coastal islands of Baja California and southern California. It is seldom found on the mainland. Codium hubbsii, originally described from Islas San Benito, has a distribution similar to that of C. dawsonii, but occurs more often on the mainland. The distributions of these three species constitute a pattern of insular endemism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Codium parvulum is a green seaweed (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) originally described from the Red Sea. It has not previously been reported from the Mediterranean. Since 2004, however, several blooms of this seaweed have been recorded for the northern shores of Israel. Although C. parvulum may have been present in the eastern Mediterranean and overlooked until now, it seems more likely to be a recent Lessepsian migrant. A collection from the Red Sea (El Gouna, Egypt) is designated the epitype of C. parvulum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]