Abstract Detail

Phycological Section

Krayesky, David [1], Norris, James [2], Jackie, Shane [1], Vogt, Jennifer [1], Suzanne, Fredericq [3].

Proposal for a new crustose red algal genus in the Order Gigartinales (Rhodophyta).

The recently recognized red algal Order Peyssonneliales is composed of about 12 genera. Species are ecologically important, widely distributed in intertidal and subtidal habitats from the Antarctic and Arctic to the Tropics. Low-growing and crust-like in shape, some species can spread to cover vast areas of rocks and corals. Others are found in deep water marine communities down to at least 200 m (656 ft.), making them among the deepest photosynthetic life on earth. Internally they are composed of filaments of cells that tightly adhere to hard substrates. One of the known genera, Polystrata has been previously reported in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The genus is composed of less than five extant species. This red crustose group has a calcified thallus that is made up of files of cell that are arranged into a mesothallus and two flanking perithallic layers. Initial morphological investigations of several "Polystrata" collections from the Gulf of Mexico suggested it to be an undescribed Polystrata species, as it lacked the characteristic calcification of other species in the genus. Studies based on comparative molecular data (rbcL and LSU) revealed that the Western Atlantic specimens from the Gulf of Mexico tentatively identified as "Polystrata" to actually be members of an undescribed genus of within the red algal Order Gigartinales and not a Peyssonnelian Polystrata species.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Slippery Rock University, Biology, 1 Morrow Way, Slippery Rock, PA, 16057, USA
2 - Smithsonian Institution, Botany, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA
3 - University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Biology, Lafayette, LA, 70504-2451, USA

Keywords:
Rhodophyta
Polystrata
Gulf of Mexico
LSU rDNA
rbcL
Systematics.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Battelle South/Convention Center
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PPC002
Abstract ID:527