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Abstract:
Plastid-encoded rbcL and psbA sequences from branched, Caribbean Sea Lithophyllum specimens indicate that four species are present, not one. Short (263 base pairs) rbcL sequences from an isolectotype of L. kaiseri (Gulf of Suez) and the holotypes of L. congestum, L. daedaleum and L. platyphyllum (Caribbean Sea) show that L. congestum and L. daedaleum are conspecific with L. kaiseri, the last having nomenclatural priority. Lithophyllum platyphyllum, currently considered a synonym of L. congestum, is recognised as a valid species. Lithophyllum stictaeforme, originally described from the Mediterranean Sea, is not conspecific with L. kaiseri (as L. congestum) as previously suggested. Lithophyllum neocongestum sp. nov. and L. pseudoplatyphyllum sp. nov. are proposed. Together with L. platyphyllum, these three branched species are so far endemic to the Caribbean Sea. This is the first report, documented by DNA sequence data, of a coralline species (L. kaiseri) widespread through the tropical Indo-West Pacific Oceans, Red Sea and Caribbean Sea.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Foremost, we dedicate this work to our beloved friend and colleague, Dr. Rafael Riosmena Rodriguez, who suddenly passed away. We thank collectors Robert Steneck, Will Schmidt, Daniela Gabriel, Thomas Sauvage, Suzanne Fredericq, Sara Kaleb, Annalisa Falace and Bryan Wysor. The help of curators at NY and TRH is greatly appreciated for providing fragments or loans of the type material. J.J. H.-K. thanks the Smithsonian Institution for a postdoctoral fellowship, a fellowship to attend the 2012 Tropical Field Phycology course at the Smithsonian's Bocas del Toro Research Station and the help of staff at National Museum of Natural History Laboratories of Analytical Biology. Collections from Red Sea localities were supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) DEB-0919508; some Panama collections were supported by NSF DEB-0742437. DNA extraction and sequencing performed by J.R.H. were funded by the generous support from a private family trust (P.W.G.). V.P.F. acknowledges support by Universidade da Coruña and by the postdoctoral program Axudas de apoio á etapa inicial de formación postdoutoral, Plan I2C (Xunta de Galicia). The specimen PC0165991 was collected during the Atimo Vatae expedition (principal investigator Philippe Bouchet), funded by the Total Foundation, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation under “Our Planet Reviewed”, a joint initiative of Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle and Pro Natura International in partnership with Institut d'Halieutique et des Sciences Marines, University of Toliara and the Madagascar bureau of Wildlife Conservation Society. The Institut de Recherche pour le Développement deployed its research catamaran Antéa.
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2216/16-7.1.s1.
