The known morphological features in identifying common species of foliose Bangiales (e.g., members of Pyropia and Porphyra), which are very few and often overlapping, are recently resolved using comparative analysis of DNA sequences and statistics.  Records of foliose Bangiales in the Philippines were historically identified based on morphology. Considering the recent radical changes in the taxonomy among these rhodophytes and problems posed by morphology-based identification, taxonomic re-appraisal of Philippine foliose Bangiales based on critical morphological and molecular studies is needed.  This study used plastid rbcL and mitochondrial COI-5P gene sequences to investigate the identity of foliose Bangiales collected in Palaui Is., Sta. Ana, Cagayan, Philippines. Observation of key phenotypes revealed the identity of the collected materials as Py. tanegashimensis. Resulting phylogenetic trees showed placement of our collected specimens into a highly supported Py. tanegashimensis clade from Japan and Brazil. Our molecular analysis also suggested that the Philippine Py. tanegashimensis includes endemic populations distinct from the introduced strain originally reported from Brazil.

Causes of taxonomic confusion are lamentably well known in foliose Bangiales. A magnitude of these uncertainties stems from the paucity of available taxonomic traits in morphologically homoplastic species. At present, the taxonomic identity and systematics of many of the Philippine foliose Bangiales are in a state of flux. A critical examination of published literature on Philippine records of 10 species of foliose Bangiales has rendered the need for re-confirmation of the presence of Porphyra atropurpurea, Porphyra marcosii, Pyropia denticulata, and Pyropia suborbiculata while records of Porphyra umbilicalis, Pyropia vietnamensis, Wildemania variegata, and the invalid name Porphyra crispata have been omitted from the list. Currently, there are only two confirmed species of foliose Bangiales in the Philippines, which are Pyropia acanthophora and Pyropia tanegashimensis. Thus, this review exhorts a re-examination of collected Philippine foliose Bangiales materials using both morphological and molecular analysis.

Knowledge on the seaweeds of eastern Sorsogon in the Philippines is uneven. Not only is eastern Sorsogon among the areas of high seaweed diversity but locals there have interacted with seaweeds for ages. Despite seaweeds’ assumed importance to Sorsoganon, ethnobotanical records are missing. In this study, we documented the traditional knowledge on seaweed use and determined the rate of knowledge transmission among the locals of eastern Sorsogon. Vernacular names and modes of preparation were given of the 12 identified species bearing culinary and medicinal importance. Ten species were eaten while three were used therapeutically. Based on ethnobotanical indices, Caulerpa chemnitzia ecad turbinata and Gelidiella acerosa were the most important seaweeds. The least cited was Caulerpa racemosa. Our study demonstrated that most of the seaweed resources in eastern Sorsogon remain largely untapped, as the identified ethnotaxa were only about 5% of the total seaweed species diversity reported for the area. The seaweed knowledge in eastern Sorsogon appeared to be homogenous across age groups with primary sources of knowledge biased towards female relatives (mothers and grandmothers) and to children as inheritors. Cessation of seaweed knowledge may come at a potential cost, as a significant fraction of the population did not transmit their knowledge to others. Our study furthered the interest in providing sophisticated resource management recommendations that consider the relationships of traditional and scientific knowledge of seaweed selection and use in eastern Sorsogon and beyond.