Notes on new records of red algae (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the Aegean Sea (Greece, eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract

In the present study five macroalgae are reported as new or confirmed for the Aegean coast of Greece (eastern Mediterranean): Antithamnionella elegans, Cottoniella filamentosa var. algeriensis, Laurencia caduciramulosa, Polysiphonia funebris and Vickersia baccata. All of them belong to the Order Ceramiales (Rhodophyta). A. elegans and L. caduciramulosa are considered as alien species in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Greek findings represent an extension for the eastern Mediterranean. The remaining three taxa are described for the first time in the eastern basin, thereby extending their distribution range. Description, illustrations, habitat, geographic distribution and taxonomical remarks are provided for each taxon.

Keywords:

• Aegean Sea
• distribution
• macroalgae
• Mediterranean
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to Dr Athanasios Athanasiadis for his valuable comments and to Dr Marc Verlaque and Michèle Perret-Boudouresque for bibliographic assistance. They are also indebted to the Greek State Scholarships Foundation for its support of this study.