Native, invasive and cryptogenic Ulva species from the Israeli Mediterranean Sea: risk and potential

Abstract

The genus Ulva (Chlorophyta) is ubiquitous along Israeli Mediterranean shores where it has been studied extensively due to its important ecological role and potential value in biotechnology and aquaculture. Previous identifications of Ulva in Israel were based only on morphology. Here, we compare species found in 2002 and in 2014-2016. Analyses of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rbcL) and elongation factor 1-alpha (tufA) plastid genes (2014-2016 samples only), combined with morphological data, identified six Ulva species, three of which are new records for Israel and probably originate from the Indo-Pacific. Ulva compressa, rarely found in 2002, is now the most abundant species and exhibits two fairly distinct morphologies correlated with different haplotypes for both genes. Ulva fasciata was found more commonly in 2002 than in 2014-16, whereas the morphologically similar, and closely related, invasive species U. ohnoi seemed more frequent in recent samples. The finely branched tubular Ulva tepida was found in 2002 and 2015/16, and U. chaugulii and Ulva aragoensis (Bliding) Maggs, comb. nov. were discovered for the first time in 2015/16. The changing Ulva flora of the Israeli Mediterranean may be correlated with major environmental changes including 3°C increase in sea surface temperatures over the last two decades, as well as a generally increasing prevalence of non-native species. The local Ulva species now found in Israel could be of value for various industrial uses.

Feasibility study of Ulva sp. (Chlorophyta) intensive cultivation in a coastal area of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

“…The exact taxonomic status of the Ulva sp. used in this study suggests a mix of two morphological and genetically similar types, Ulva rigida and Ulva fasciata . Specimens were taken from stocks cultivated in an outdoor seaweed collection at Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa, Israel (IOLR), in 40 L fiberglass tanks supplied with running seawater, tumbling with air, and weekly additions of 1 mmol L −1 NH 4 Cl and 0.1 mmol L −1 NaH 2 PO 4 .…”

Taxonomy of <italic>Ulva</italic> causing blooms from Jeju Island, Korea with new species, <italic>U. pseudo-ohnoi</italic> sp. nov. (Ulvales, Chlorophyta)

“…Distribution. Korea (Bae 2010, Kim et al 2013); Japan ; America (Melton et al 2016, Chávez-Sánchez et al 2018; Southwest Asia (Kazi et al 2016, Krupnik et al 2018; Australia and New Zealand (Kirkendale et al 2013);Pacific Islands (O'Kelly et al 2010); Africa (Miladi et al 2018); Europe (Miladi et al 2018).…”

Exergy efficiency of light conversion into biomass in the macroalga Ulva sp. (Chlorophyta) cultivated under the pulsed light in a photobioreactor

“…Each experiment used a fresh supply of algae biomass and were performed from December 12, 2016 to March 1, 2017. The algae stocks contain a mix of Ulva fasciata and Ulva rigida , both species bearing very similar morphologies as described recently by the ref (Krupnik et al, ). For each experiment, a new batch of artificial seawater was prepared using deionized water mixed with dried sea salt (Red Sea Salt, Cheddar, UK).…”