A REAPPRAISAL OF PORPHYRA AND BANGIA (BANGIOPHYCIDAE, RHODOPHYTA) IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC BASED ON THE rbcL–rbcS INTERGENIC SPACER

Abstract

Sequence data of the rbcL–rbcS noncoding intergenic spacer of the plastid genome for 47 specimens of Porphyra and Bangia from the northeast Atlantic reveal that they fall into 11 distinct sequences: P. purpurea, P. dioica (includes a sample of P. “ochotensis” from Helgoland), P. amplissima (includes P. thulaea and British records of P. “miniata”), P. linearis, P. umbilicalis, P. “miniata”, B. atropurpurea s.l. from Denmark and B. atropurpurea s.l. from Wales, P. drachii, P. leucosticta (includes a British record of P. “miniata var. abyssicola”), and P. “insolita” (includes P. “yezoensis” from Helgoland). Of these, data obtained for P. purpurea, P. dioica, P. amplissima, P. linearis, P. umbilicalis, P. drachii, and P. leucosticta were based on type specimens or material compared with types. Comparison of sequence data for Porphyra spp. and Bangia atropurpurea s.l. (including B. fuscopurpurea, the type species of Bangia) confirms that the species are congeneric. The data also confirm that the number of layers that make up the Porphyra thallus are not taxonomically significant. Comparison of sequence data for species from the northeast Atlantic with those for material of two species from the Pacific reveals that the species fall into two distinct groupings: an Atlantic group, containing P. purpurea, P. dioica, P. amplissima, P. linearis, P. umbilicalis, P. “miniata”, and B. atropurpurea, and a Pacific group, containing P. “pseudolinearis”, P. drachii, P. leucosticta, P. “yezoensis” (including a sample of P. “tenera”), and P. “insolita” (including P. “yezoensis” from Helgoland). The possibility of alien species in the northeast Atlantic is discussed.

The marine macroalgae of Helgoland (North Sea): an annotated list of records between 1845 and 1999

“…The small high littoral winter species P. linearis is confirmed by herbarium specimens from 1956 onwards. Its distinctness from P. hiemalis remains to be proven (Guiry, personal communication) but it is the same as British material (Brodie et al 1998). The report of a sublittoral epiphytic P. linearis in July 1923 (Schiller 1928) almost certainly refers to Porphyropsis coccinea.…”

“…P. insolita (Kornmann and Sahling 1991) is a separate species according to Rubisco spacer sequences (Brodie et al 1998), but is particularly difficult to identify in the field as it is similar to P. umbilicalis. P. yezoensis sensu Kornmann was described for Helgoland on the basis of culture studies (Kornmann 1986), but is not the same as Japanese material of P. yezoensis according to Rubisco spacer sequence data (Brodie et al 1998) and not the same as P. insolita. Before 1939 only P. leucosticta and P. umbilicalis (as P. laciniata) were considered to occur on Helgoland, probably due to taxonomic difficulties.…”

New insights into the cryptic diversity of the North Atlantic–Mediterranean ‘Porphyra leucosticta’ complex:P. oliviisp. nov. andP. rosengurttii(Bangiales, Rhodophyta)

“…DNA extraction and amplification methods followed those in Brodie et al (1996Brodie et al ( , 1998. The RuBisCO spacer region was amplified using Rub5 and Rub3Por.…”

New insights into the biodiversity and generic relationships of foliose Bangiales (Rhodophyta) in Iceland and the Faroe Islands

“…Kjellman (1883) mentioned that the species was dioecious but that specimens with both male and female reproductive structures were also observed. It was later synonymized with P. miniata by Rosenvinge (1893) but not everyone agreed with this transfer (Hus, 1902;Scagel, 1957;Rueness, 1977;Munda, 1979), and Brodie et al (1998) noted that P. abyssicola was a species that needed further attention. Based on morphological and habitat similarities between the molecularly distinct species in the Icelandic material studied here and Kjellman's description of Wildemania abyssicola, we are confident that they are the same species and that W. abyssicola should not be regarded as a synonym of W. miniata.…”