The Phyllophoraceae (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) from Peru with descriptions of Acletoa tarazonae gen. & sp. nov. and Gymnogongrus caespitosus sp. nov.

Abstract:

We investigated species in the family Phyllophoraceae from Peru using sequences of the plastid rbcL sequences and morphological examination. Here we describe Acletoa tarazonae gen. & sp. nov., characterized by the presence of secondary medullary cells around cystocarps, gonimoblast initials that are downwardly and upwardly directed, and a linear arrangement of gonimoblast filaments on medullary cells. Acletoa tarazonae consistently formed a clade with Ahnfeltiopsis vermicularis and Chilean Gymnogongrus sp., and this clade was distinct from other genera in the Phyllophoraceae in the rbcL phylogeny. We also describe a new species of the Phyllophoraceae, Gymnogongrus caespitosus sp. nov., from northern Peru, characterized by a semirigid and flattened thallus, narrow branches, absence of hair cells, and cystocarps immersed in a single cavity. Ahnfeltiopsis concinna was not distinct from Ahnfeltiopsis durvillei, and consistently grouped in the genus Gymnogongrus sensu stricto in the rbcL phylogeny. A new combination of Gymnogongrus durvillei comb. nov. was made on the basis of A. durvillei, and A. concinna was merged with G. durvillei.

Key Words::

• Ahnfeltiopsis
• Female reproductive structure
• Gymnogongrus
• Peru
• rbcL
• Systematics

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by Marine Biotechnology grants from the Korean government's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to SMB.

SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2216/16-126.1.s1.