Epibacterial communities on seaweeds are affected by several abiotic factors such as temperature and acidification. Due to global warming, surface seawater temperatures are expected to increase by 0.5–5 °C in the next century. However, how epibacterial communities associated with seaweeds will respond to global warming remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the response of epibacterial communities associated with the invasive Gracilaria vermiculophylla exposed to 3 °C above ambient temperature for 4 months using a benthocosm system in Kiel, Germany, and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The results showed that elevated temperature affected the beta-diversity of the epibacterial communities. Some potential seaweed pathogens such as Pseudoalteromonas, Vibrio, Thalassotalea, and Acinetobacter were identified as indicator genera at the elevated temperature level. Thirteen core raw amplicon sequence variants in the elevated temperature group were the same as the populations distributed over a wide geographical range, indicating that these core ASVs may play an important role in the invasive G. vermicullophylla. Overall, this study not only contributes to a better understanding of how epibacterial communities associated with G. vermiculophylla may adapt to ocean warming, but also lays the foundation for further exploration of the interactions between G. vermiculophylla and its epimicrobiota.

In temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, green algae of the genus Blidingia are a substantial and environment-shaping component of the upper and mid-supralittoral zones. However, taxonomic knowledge on these important green algae is still sparse. In the present study, the molecular diversity and distribution of Blidingia species in the German State of Schleswig-Holstein was examined for the first time, including Baltic Sea and Wadden Sea coasts and the off-shore island of Helgoland (Heligoland). In total, three entities were delimited by DNA barcoding, and their respective distributions were verified (in decreasing order of abundance: Blidingia marginata, Blidingia cornuta sp. nov. and Blidingia minima). Our molecular data revealed strong taxonomic discrepancies with historical species concepts, which were mainly based on morphological and ontogenetic characters. Using a combination of molecular, morphological and ontogenetic approaches, we were able to disentangle previous misidentifications of B. minima and demonstrate that the distribution of B. minima is more restricted than expected within the examined area. Blidingia minima, the type of the genus name Blidingia, is epitypified within this study by material collected at the type locality Helgoland. In contrast with B. minima, B. marginata shows a higher phenotypic plasticity and is more widely distributed in the study area than previously assumed. The third entity, Blidingia cornuta sp. nov., is clearly delimited from other described Blidingia species, due to unique characters in its ontogenetic development and morphology as well as by its tufA and rbcL sequences.