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Issue: Vol. 224 No. 2: 28 August 2015
Type: Article
Published: 2015-08-28
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.224.2.2
Page range: 140–158
Abstract views: 28
PDF downloaded: 1

Sporolithon yoneshigueae sp. nov. (Sporolithales, Corallinophycidae, Rhodophyta), a new rhodolith-forming coralline alga from the southwest Atlantic

Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisa Científica, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, 22460-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisa Científica, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, 22460-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, P. Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa
Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
Instituto de Biologia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Ilha do Fundão. Av. Brigadeiro Trompowsky, s.n., 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisa Científica, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, 22460-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
genetic marker molecular phylogeny Sporolithaceae taxonomy Algae Atlantic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the new rhodolith-forming coralline alga species, Sporolithon yoneshigueae sp. nov., based on both morpho-anatomical and molecular data. Specimens were collected in rhodolith beds between 28 and 66 m depths in northeastern and southeastern Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from all other species of the genus Sporolithon by its wide tetrasporangial compartment pore diameter (35–43 µm) and the correspondingly large number (19–24) of rosette cells surrounding the tetrasporangial compartment pore. Phylogenies inferred from psbA and SSU markers support it as a new species within Sporolithon with interspecific genetic divergence varying from 8.86–10.94 %, and 3.67–4.63%, respectively. Observations from recent gathering and from herbarium collections show that specimens previously designated as Sporolithon mediterraneum in Brazil correspond to Sporolithon yoneshigueae.