The Mediterranean deep-water kelp Laminaria rodriguezii is an endangered species in the Adriatic Sea

• Published in: Marine biology Vol. 163; p. 69
• Main Authors: Žuljević, Ante, Peters, Akira F, Nikolić, Vedran, Antolić, Boris, Despalatović, Marija, Cvitković, Ivan, Isajlović, Igor, Mihanović, Hrvoje, Matijević, Slavica, Shewring, Dawn M, Canese, Simonepietro, Katsaros, Christos, Küpper, Frithjof C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 2016
• Subjects: IUCN criteria; Bottom trawling; ITS; Rubisco spacer; cox1; Endangered algae; Kelp; Circalittoral
• ISSN: 0025-3162

Deep-water kelps are little-known large brown algae occurring close to the lower limit of photosynthetic life in the sea. This study compares historical and recent records of the deep-water Mediterranean kelp in the Adriatic Sea. Historical records include data from herbarium collections and trawling fishery expeditions in the mid-twentieth century, while recent data comprise records of the last 17 years from MEDITS expeditions, ROV surveys of historical kelp locations, benthic surveys and records by fishermen. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that the Adriatic population of has suffered a decline of more than 85 % of its historical range and is now present only around the small offshore island of Palagruža. Bottom trawling activities are presumably responsible for the disappearance elsewhere. We propose to classify as "Endangered" in the Adriatic Sea under IUCN criteria B1ab(i,iii,iv), ver 3.1. Oceanographic characteristics of the habitat suggest that besides high water transparency, presence of North Adriatic Dense Water with both strong currents and stable low temperatures of around 14 °C are essential oceanographic factors for the development of in the Central Adriatic. The origin of cold water thus differs from that at upwelling sites permitting populations of tropical deep-water kelps. The phylogenetic position of is so far unknown. DNA sequences from nuclear and cytoplasmic markers of two thalli from Croatia and the western Mediterranean confirmed that is a member of the Laminariaceae and most closely related to , and the Brazilian deep-water kelp   .