Four Gelidiales (Rhodophyta) new to southern Africa, Aphanta pachyrrhiza gen. et sp. nov., Gelidium profundum sp. nov., Pterocladiella caerulescens and P. psammophila sp. nov

• Published in: Phycologia (Oxford) Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 325 - 348
• Main Authors: Tronchin, Enrico M., Freshwater, D. Wilson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 01.05.2007; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Aphanta; Aphanta pachyrrhiza; Collections; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Digital imaging; Diversity; DNA; DNA polymerase; Field study; Gelidiales; Gelidium; Gelidium profundum; Marine; Pterocladiella; Pterocladiella caerulecsens; Pterocladiella caerulescens; Pterocladiella psammophila; Rhodophyta; Seaweed; Systematics; Taxa; PSW, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal
• ISSN: 0031-8884; 2330-2968
• DOI: 10.2216/06-73.1

E.M. Tronchin and D.W. Freshwater. 2007. Four Gelidiales (Rhodophyta) new to southern Africa, Aphanta pachyrrhiza gen. et sp. nov., Gelidium profundum sp. nov., Pterocladiella caerulescens and P. psammophila sp. nov. Phycologia 46: 325-348. DOI: 10.2216/06-73.1 Four Gelidiales taxa are reported for the first time from the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa and the southern Mozambican coast. Three of these taxa are new to science, namely, Aphanta pachyrrhiza gen. et. sp. nov., Gelidium profundum sp. nov. and Pterocladiella psammophila sp. nov. The fourth is the first report of Pterocladiella caerulescens from the southern African coast. These species were identified using an integrated taxonomic approach that employed DNA sequence and morphological analyses. The southern African coast continues to be an area of high Gelidiales diversity with six genera and 30 species currently reported from this region.