Halimeda pygmaea and Halimeda pumila (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta): two new dwarf species from fore reef slopes in Fiji and the Bahamas

Abstract

Halimeda pygmaea and Halimeda pumila, two diminutive calcified green algal species, are described from material collected on Fijian and Bahamian reef slopes, respectively. The species resemble Halimeda cryptica in having a single siphon traversing the nodes between subsequent calcified segments and living in sheltered fore-reef slope habitats. They differ from H. cryptica by their diminutive size and various anatomical features. Molecular sequence data (tufA) underpin the identity of H. pygmaea and reveal its phylogenetic position as a sister taxon to H. cryptica in the Halimeda section Micronesicae.

Diversity of Halimeda (Chlorophyta) from the Thai–Malay Peninsula

“…TufA has been proposed as a DNA bar-coding marker for the Ulvophyceae, including Halimeda (Kooistra et al 2002;Verbruggen et al 2005bVerbruggen et al , c, d, e, 2006Verbruggen et al , 2007Verbruggen et al , 2009Saunders & Kucera 2010;Dijoux et al 2012). The phylogenetic results clearly indicated that this marker could identify morphological species of Halimeda in this region.…”

“…Most studies of Halimeda were carried out from the Atlantic Ocean, with limited studies in the Indo-Pacific (Verbruggen & Kooistra 2004;Kooistra & Verbruggen 2005;Verbruggen et al 2005aVerbruggen et al , b, c, d, e, 2006Verbruggen et al , 2007Verbruggen et al , 2009Dijoux et al 2012). In Southeast Asia, 26 species of Halimeda are reported (Silva et al 1987(Silva et al , 1996Verbruggen et.…”

Diversity of Halimeda (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) in New Caledonia: a Combined Morphological and Molecular Study

“…This marker had already been used for phylogenetic purposes in the genus Halimeda (Verbruggen et al. ,b,c,d, , , ) and for species delimitation in two of its sections ( Pseudo‐opuntia and Opuntia : Verbruggen et al. ).…”

“…During the last decade, Verbruggen and coworkers carried out multigene phylogenetic studies to further improve our understanding of species delimitation and evolutionary relationships in Halimeda (Verbruggen and Kooistra , Verbruggen et al. ,b, , , ,b). Although the section‐level lineages have been well characterized, many taxonomical ambiguities remain at the species level.…”

The benthic marine algae of the tropical and subtropical Western Atlantic: changes in our understanding in the last half century

“…48), Caulerpa kempfii (Joly and Pereira 1975), Codium carolinianum (Searles 1972), Halimeda goreaui (Taylor 1962d) (Fig. 49), Halimeda pumila (Verbruggen et al 2007b), Ostreobium constrictum (Lukas 1974), Pseudocodium floridanum (Dawes and Mathieson 1972), Rhipidosiphon floridensis (Littler and Littler 1990a), Trichosolen molassensis (Bucher and Norris in Bucher et al 1990) A number of genera have received monographic treatments, have otherwise relatively large levels of attention, or have had new species assigned. These genera are listed below with citations of their treatments: Aglaothamnion and Callithamnion: Aponte andBallantine (1990, 1995); Aponte et al (1994Aponte et al ( , 1997; Brasileiro et al (2009); Cordeiro-Marino (1978); Dixon and Price (1981); Guimarães (2006); L'Hardy-Halos and Rueness (1990); Maggs et al (1991); Rueness and L'Hardy-Halos (1991); Rueness and Rueness (1980); Schneider (1980); Searles (1981); Wynne (2005) Figs 29-37.…”