Commanderella gen. nov. and new insights into foliose Kallymeniaceae (Rhodophyta) from the Russian Pacific coast based on molecular studies

ABSTRACT

Molecular analyses of recently acquired sequences from eight specimens from the Russian Pacific region (Kamchatka, Commander Islands and Kurile Islands) reveal necessary taxonomic changes for members of the family Kallymeniaceae: (1) Kallymeniopsis lacera, the generitype, is transferred to Erythrophyllum, resulting in the synonymy of these two genera; K. verrucosa from the Kurile Islands has not been subjected to molecular analyses and remains orphaned and in need of taxonomic study; (2) Velatocarpus is shown to be a distinct genus sister to Erythrophyllum; (3) Hommersandia palmatifolia is sister to Euthora, but is sufficiently genetically and anatomically distinct to continue to be recognised it as a separate genus; and (4) Cirrulicarpus ruprechtianus is resolved as a unique lineage near Metacallophyllis, Pugetia and Salishia and is transferred to a new genus, Commanderella, and the combination C. ruprechtiana (E.S.Sinova) comb. nov. is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• COI-5P
• LSU
• Phylogeny
• rbcL
• Systematics
• Taxonomy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to Tanya Moore for generating the sequence data used in this study. Work completed in the Saunders laboratory was supported by funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. We are also grateful to colleagues from Kamchatka who participated in algal collection: Elena Arkhipova, Dmitrii Danilin, Aleksandr Rzhavskii, Nadezhda and Karen Sanamyan, Anna Skriptsova, Vladimir Shalukhanov and Irina Viter.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.