An account of Southern Australian Species of Mesophyllum (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta)

Abstract

Mesophyllum (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta) is represented in southern Australia by at least four species. M. engelhartii and M. incisum have been reported from the region previously, M. macroblastum is newly recorded, and M. printzianum is newly described. Detailed accounts are provided for each species along with information on etymology, nomenclature and synonymy, collections examined, infraspecific taxonomy, and distribution, seasonality and habitat. Comparisons of southern Australian species with the type species of Mesophyllum, M. lichenoides, also are included. Of the nine additional entities that have been recorded from southern Australia under the generic name Mesophyllum, three (M. fumigatum, M. lemniscatum, M. versicolor) are considered heterotypic synonyms of M. engelhartii, three are referable to other genera of Corallinaceae (M. gabrielii to Lithothamnion; M. patena to Synarthrophyton; M. rupestre to Hydrolithon), two (M. lichenoides, M. neglectum) are based on misidentifications or questionable records, and one (M. squamuliforme) is treated as a species of uncertain status. Southern Australian specimens previously referred to Clathromorphum have been found to belong to Mesophyllum. As a prelude to the taxonomic accounts, a short historical introduction is provided along with a brief consideration of general morphological and anatomical features of Mesophyllum and a detailed analysis of characters that have been or could be used to delimit species within the genus. None of the at least 26 characters used by previous authors or the 34 quantitative characters examined during the present study were found to be of diagnostic value. By contrast, qualitative characters associated with tetrasporangial / bisporangial conceptacle roof morphology and anatomy have provided a reliable basis for delimiting the four southern Australian species from one another and from the type species of the genus, M. lichenoides. Concluding remarks, acknowledgments and references follow the taxonomic accounts.

Seaweed diversity associated with a Brazilian tropical rhodolith bed

“…The features observed for the material from Espírito Santo correspond to M. engelhartii described by Woelkerling and Harvey (1993).…”

“…Scinaia aborealis was recorded for Australia (Huisman 1986) and Fiji (South and Skelton 2003). Mesophyllum engelhartii has been confirmed for Australia (Woelkerling and Harvey 1993), New Zealand (Harvey et al 2005), Namibia (John et al 2004), and South Africa (Chamberlain and Keats 1995). The rhodoliths from this study comprised seven crustose coralline species in five genera (Hydrolithon, Lithophyllum, Lithothamnion, Mesophyllum, and Neogoniolithon), a high richness of coralline red algae compared with other studied tropical and temperate rhodolith beds (e.g., Steller et al 2003, Goldberg 2006, Konar et al 2006, Harvey and Bird 2008, Peña and Bárbara 2008, Basso et al 2009).…”

“…Identification of coralline species that composed the rhodoliths was done using Woelkerling and Harvey (1993), salinidades entre 34.6 y 36 (Silveira et al 2000). Se observan dos condiciones abióticas muy distintas: (1) un verano lluvioso, con vientos del NE y E (Niemer 1977, Vera et al 2002 y el arribo de aguas frías de surgencia; y (2) un invierno seco, cuando las tormentas frecuentes del S y SE (Niemer 1977, Vera et al 2002 llegan a la región y la temperatura del agua superficial del mar puede ser mayor que durante el verano.…”

Evolutionary history of the Corallinales (Corallinophycidae, Rhodophyta) inferred from nuclear, plastidial and mitochondrial genomes

“…The limited molecular evidence available favours placing the type species of Lithophyllum and Titanoderma in separate genera (Bailey, 1999;present study). The morphological criteria proposed to separate the two genera (basal layer of palisade cells and bistratose margins vs. basal layer of non-palisade cells and non-bistratose margins for Titanoderma vs. Lithophyllum respectively), however, do not stand up to rigorous testing because all these characters can occur together in the same thallus to varying degrees (Campbell and Woelkerling, 1990;Woelkerling and Campbell, 1992). Thus it is impossible to draw meaningful, reliable generic boundaries on the morphological grounds currently proposed as the material studied here had the Titanoderma-type diagnostic characters (namely a basal layer of palisade cells and bistratose margins), but did not join the generitype Titanoderma pustulatum.…”

Nongeniculate coralline red algae (Rhodophyta: Corallinales) in coral reefs from Northeastern Brazil and a description of Neogoniolithon atlanticum sp. nov.

“…Geographical distribution:-Adriatic Sea (Munda 1979), Australia (Woelkerling & Campbell 1992, Womersley 1996, Huisman 2000, Ringeltaube & Harvey 2000, Phillips 2002), Bermuda (Taylor 1960 (Coppejans 1979, Rodríguez Prieto et al 1993, Cuba (Suárez 2005), France , Greece (Gerloff & Geissler 1974;Tsirika & Haritonidis 2005), Hispaniola (Betancourt & Herrera-Moreno 2001), Israel (Einav 2007), Italy (Giaccone 1969, Cecere et al 1996, 1999, Rindi et al 2002, Serio et al 2006, Lesser Antilles (Taylor 1960), Madeira Island (Neto et al 2001, John et al 2004, Malta (Cormaci et al 1997), New Zeland (Woelkerling & Campbell 1992, Bostock & Holland 2010, Puerto Rico (Taylor 1960, Ballantine et al 2004, Salvage Island (John et al 2004), Sardinia (Furnari et al 2003), Senegal (John et al 2004), Spain (Gallardo et al 1985, Morais e Silva et al 2008, Tanzania (Oliveira et al 2005), Trinidad and Tobago (Duncan & Lee Lum 2006), Trinidad (Taylor 1960, Richardson 1975, Turkey (Taskin et al 2008), United States (Taylor 1960), Virgin Islands (Taylor 1960).…”