The species of Chondrophycus and Laurencia (Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiales) occurring in Dhofar, the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

M.J. Wynne, D. Serio, M. Cormaci, and G. Furnari. 2005. The species of Chondrophycus and Laurencia (Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiales) occurring in Dhofar, the Sultanate of Oman. Phycologia 44: 497–509.

Fieldwork carried out in the Dhofar region of the Sultanate of Oman has resulted in many collections of marine algae assignable to the related genera Chondrophycus and Laurencia. Observations are made on the following five species of Chondrophycus, all representing first reports for Oman: Chondrophycus ceylanicus (J. Agardh) M.J. Wynne, Serio, Cormaci & G. Furnari comb. nov., C. cruciatus, C. dotyi, C. palisadus, and C. succisus. A first record of Laurencia nidifica is made for Oman, and new collections are documented for the previously reported species L. heteroclada and L. majuscula. A key to the Sultanate of Oman species of the Laurencia complex is given.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The fieldwork for this research was carried out in connection with the Algal Biodiversity Project of Oman (1999–2002), funded by a Darwin Initiative Grant for the Survival of Species. The Darwin Initiative is part of the British Government's Department of Environment Transport and the Regions (DETR). The project was managed by HTS Development Ltd, UK, working with the Natural History Museum of Muscat, Oman, and supported by the Natural History Museum of London and the Herbarium of the University of Michigan. We thank Mr Glenn Richards (a member of the HTS staff) and Mrs Gianna Minton (a volunteer on the 2000 Expedition) for making some of the collections used in this study. We thank the Curator of the Herbier, Laboratoire de Cryptogamie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (PC), for sharing information. This work was also supported by a Grant of the University of Catania.