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Issue: Vol. 423 No. 2: 4 November 2109
Type: Article
Published: 2019-11-04
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.423.2.1
Page range: 49–67
Abstract views: 19
PDF downloaded: 10

Sporolithon amadoi sp. nov. (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), a new rhodolith-forming non-geniculate coralline alga from offshore the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and Brazil

University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Biology Department, Lafayette, LA 70504-3602, U.S.A.
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisa Científica, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22460-030, Brazil
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisa Científica, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22460-030, Brazil
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Biology Department, Lafayette, LA 70504-3602, U.S.A.
Abrolhos bank biogeography CCA coralline algae marine algae marine biodiversity mesophotic reefs rhodoliths seaweeds Algae

Abstract

DNA sequence analysis of plastid-encoded psbA and rbcL loci, and nuclear-encoded LSU rDNA of rhodolith-forming specimens of Sporolithales from Brazil and the northwestern Gulf of Mexico reveal that they belong to an unnamed species of Sporolithon (Sporolithaceae). Sporolithon amadoi sp. nov. is morpho-anatomically characterized by a vegetative thallus reaching more than 20 cell layers, a tetrasporophyte with tetrasporangial sori slightly raised above the thallus surface that become overgrown and buried after spore release, and by cruciately divided tetrasporangia with pores surrounded by 9–13 rosette cells. Since these morpho-anatomical features are shared with some other Sporolithon species, identification of this species can only be confirmed by DNA sequences.