A coralline rhodolith was collected from a depth of 178 m, the lower end of the mesophotic zone, on Plantagenet Bank offshore of Bermuda by the submersible Nomad using a mechanical armature. DNA sequence comparisons of the plastid encoded psbA and rbcL loci of this specimen to Sporolithales from the tropical western Atlantic and worldwide revealed it to be an unnamed species of Sporolithon. Sporolithon mesophoticum sp. nov. possesses tetrasporangial sori flush to slightly raised above the thallus surface and has uniquely flattened perithallial and meristematic cells. Thus far, the new species is the deepest known living marine macroalga that has been sequenced and placed into a phylogenetic context.
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Sporolithon amadoi sp. nov. (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), a new rhodolith-forming non-geniculate coralline alga from offshore the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and Brazil
DNA sequence analysis of plastid-encoded psbA and rbcL loci, and nuclear-encoded LSU rDNA of rhodolith-forming specimens of Sporolithales from Brazil and the northwestern Gulf of Mexico reveal that they belong to an unnamed species of Sporolithon (Sporolithaceae). Sporolithon amadoi sp. nov. is morpho-anatomically characterized by a vegetative thallus reaching more than 20 cell layers, a tetrasporophyte with tetrasporangial sori slightly raised above the thallus surface that become overgrown and buried after spore release, and by cruciately divided tetrasporangia with pores surrounded by 9–13 rosette cells. Since these morpho-anatomical features are shared with some other Sporolithon species, identification of this species can only be confirmed by DNA sequences.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1754504
- PAR ID:
- 10123166
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Phytotaxa
- Volume:
- 423
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1179-3163
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 49-67
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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