Sporolithon indopacificum sp. nov. (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta) from tropical western Indian and western Pacific oceans: First report, confirmed by DNA sequence data, of a widely distributed species of Sporolithon

G.W. MANEVELDT; P.W. GABRIELSON; J. KANGWE

doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.326.2.3

Issue: Vol. 326 No. 2: 24 October 2017

Type: Article

Published: 2017-10-24

DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.326.2.3

Page range: 115–128

Abstract views: 28

PDF downloaded: 1

***Sporolithon indopacificum sp. nov*. (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta) from tropical western Indian and western Pacific oceans: First report, confirmed by DNA sequence data,** of a widely distributed species of Sporolithon

G.W. MANEVELDT⁺⁻
P.W. GABRIELSON⁺⁻
J. KANGWE⁺⁻

Department of Biodiversity & Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, P. Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa.

Biology Department and Herbarium, Coker Hall CB 3280, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3280, USA.

Tanzania Fisheries Research institute (TAFIRI), P. O Box 78850, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

biogeography coralline algae morpho-anatomy Algae

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Abstract

Sporolithon indopacificum sp. nov. is characterized from Zanzibar Island, Tanzania. rbcL and psbA markers indicate that the species is unique compared to all other Sporolithon species that have thus far been sequenced. The species previously had been collected at Nukulau, Suva, Fiji and identified as S. episporum. The two species bear a close morpho-anatomical resemblance differing only by degree in three measured tetra/bisporangial characters. This is the first Sporolithon species confirmed to be widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific based on DNA sequences.