Dasya atropurpurea sp. nov. (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta), a deep-water species from the Hawaiian Archipelago

Abstract

P.S. Vroom. 2005. Dasya atropurpurea sp. nov. (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta), a deep-water species from the Hawaiian Archipelago. Phycologia 44: 572–580.

Dasya atropurpurea sp. nov. is the 11th and largest known species of Dasya to occur on tropical central Pacific islands. The species is reported only from deep-water habitats between 20 and 170 m depths around the Hawaiian island chain and exhibits anatomical and reproductive features substantially different from the five other described species of Dasya in Hawaii. Critical comparison of features present in D. atropurpurea to original species diagnoses, herbarium specimens, and published descriptions of the other 75 recognized species of Dasya revealed the new species' overall stature, the development of three-celled carpogonial branches, the occasional but regular occurrence of adventitious branches, and the thin, lax, terminally tufted pseudolateral branches to be unique to D. atropurpurea.Based on anatomical features, the closest relatives of D. atropurpureaare most likely D. extensa and D. villosa.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Dr Isabella Abbott for her guidance and Dr John Huisman for his help with Western Australian species of Dasya. Thank you to the three individuals who collected the specimens of Dasya atropurpurea analyzed in this study, Heather Fortner, Robert Moffitt, and Molly Timmers, and to Kimberly Page, my algal assistant and dive partner in the NWHI. I acknowledge the privilege of using specimens at Bishop Museum, and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to study the many Abbott specimens kept there. This research was conducted under JIMAR's Coastal Research Theme as part of a cooperative study of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem. Funding for this work was provided by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program through the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation. Field activities and data analyses were supported by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division of NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. The Latin translation and suggested species name were provided by Mark Garland (http://www.botanicallatin.org, e-mail: [email protected]).