Notas sobre las algas marinas de la Reserva Internacional de la Biosfera Seaflower, Caribe Colombiano VIII: nuevos registros de algas rojas (Rhodophyta) de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina, Colombia

Abstract

Background and Aims: During the past decade, phycological research in the Seaflower International Biosphere Reserve has revealed a much more diverse marine flora than historically appreciated. This work aims to contribute to the knowledge of macroalgal biodiversity in the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence and Saint Cataline, Colombian Caribbean, adding 11 new records of red algae. Methods: The samples were collected around the islands in ten points covering different ecosystems, by SCUBA diving at depths between 0 and 37 m. Sampling was carried out between August and November 2009, December 2012, and September 2019 during the Seaflower Scientific Expedition. The algae collected were preserved in a 4% formalin/seawater solution. The identification was carried out using an optical microscope and specialized literature. All specimens were deposited in the herbarium JIW of the Biology Department of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Key results: Eleven species of red macroalgae are newly reported for the Seaflower International Biosphere Reserve in the Caribbean Sea. Of these taxa, six have been previously reported for the Colombian Caribbean: Botryocladia spinulifera, Champia taironensis, Dasya caraibica, Pterocladiella bartlettii, Seirospora occidentalis, Spyridia aculeata subsp. complanata. The remaining five species are new records for the country: Botryocladia cf. bahamensis, Botryocladia cf. bermudana, Ceramium brevizonatum var. caraibicum Gloioderma iyoense and Wrightiella tumanowiczii. With these results the International Biosphere Reserve Seaflower hosts 153 species of Rhodophyta, belonging to 12 orders, 27 families and 73 genera. Conclusions: With the research carried out in the last 10 years, the number of registered taxa has increased from 202 to 325, which represents a 62% increase in the knowledge of macroalgae diversity and places the Archipelago in the second most diverse region in the Colombian Caribbean.

Listado actualizado y nuevos registros de macroalgas para el Golfo de Morrosquillo, Caribe colombiano

“…Furthermore, the lack of records of incrusting red algae, epiphytic, epizoic species and cyanobacteria is noteworthy. These organisms constitute a relevant portion of macroalgal diversity, especially in tropical regions (Mateo-Cid et al, 2020;Reyes-Gómez et al, 2021) and have been ignored in the Gulf of Morrosquillo as well as in the Colombian Caribbean in general. Moreover, most recent works (e.g., Quirós-Rodríguez et al, 2010;Sampedro-M. et al, 2012;Meneses and Rivera, 2014;Quintana-M. and Mercado-Gómez, 2017) focused exclusively on shallow environments (to 4 m depth); hence, there is no information on seaweeds at greater depths in the Gulf.…”

“…The studies of the marine algal flora of the Caribbean coast of Colombia have been focused on the eastern area towards Santa Marta (Schnetter, 1969;Bula-Meyer and Díaz-Pulido, 1995;Díaz-Pulido and Díaz-Ruíz, 2003;Vega-Sequeda et al, 2008;Camacho and Montaña-Fernández, 2012;Gómez-Cubillos, 2018;Cabarcas and García-Ureña, 2020), Rosario islands near Cartagena (Salazar-Forero et al, 2021), and La Guajira peninsula (Díaz-Pulido, 2000;Mendoza-Castro and Suarez-Acuña, 2018;Vasquez-Carrillo and Sullivan, 2018;Puccini and Molina, 2022;Gavio et al, 2022b). Phycological research in the International Biosphere Reserve Seaflower, oceanic archipelago located in the western Caribbean, has been extensive (e.g., Díaz-Puli-do and Bula-Meyer, 1997;Ortiz and Gavio, 2010;Gavio 2011, 2015;Rincón-Díaz, 2014;Gavio et al, 2015;Rincón-Díaz and Ramos, 2016;Rincón-Díaz et al, 2018;Reyes-Gómez et al, 2021;Gavio et al, 2022a;Daza, 2023).…”

Present and Future of Seaweed Cultivation and Its Applications in Colombia

“…Since the listing of Rincón-Díaz and Gavio [60], nine new species have been reported from the Caribbean, five from the Seaflower International Biosphere Reserve [62], and four from the Rosario Islands [63].…”