Morphology, basiphyte range, and plastid DNA phylogeny of Campylaephora borealis stat. nov. (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta)

Abstract

The ceramiaceous red algal genus Campylaephora J. Agardh includes three species that occur exclusively in the northwest Pacific Ocean. We studied the morphology, basiphyte range, and molecular phylogeny of Campylaephora borealis, considered a variety of the C. crassa complex, using material collected over its geographic range. Samples of C. borealis, C. crassa, C. hypnaeoides, and putative relatives were taken from 43 locations in Korea, Japan, and Far–East Russia, including the type localities of the first two of these species. Campylaephora borealis is distinguished by proliferous branchlets on all sides of the main branches and an alternate branching pattern. It is characteristically epiphytic on diverse plants, such as Prionitis divaricata, and occurs mostly in exposed sites. It is distributed from Maengbang, Korea to Nakhodka, Far–East Russia. Based on pairwise divergences of the plastid RuBisCo spacer region and psbA sequences, C. borealis is more closely related to C. hypnaeoides than to C. crassa. The topology of the tree constructed using the combined data shows the monophyly of C. borealis, which is clearly separated from other Campylaephora species and putative relatives. Our molecular data together with the basiphyte range and a morphological reappraisal point to the independent taxonomic position of C. borealis, isolated from Campylaephora crassa. Therefore, we propose to raise Campylaephora crassa f. borealis to the rank of species: Campylaephora borealis (Nakamura) Seo et al., stat. nov. The phylogeny of Campylaephora is also discussed.

MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF CERAMIUM AND CENTROCERAS (CERAMIACEAE, RHODOPHYTA) FROM BRAZIL1

“…Ceramium as currently circumscribed is not monophyletic with respect to Centroceras Kützing and Corallophila Weber‐van Bosse. A similar result was found in morphological analyses of genera in the Ceramieae (Seo et al 2003), and our study is further evidence that the Ceramieae requires phylogenetic and nomenclatural attention.…”

Comparative Morphology and Seasonality of Campylaephora borealis and C. crassa (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta)

“…The maximum length in the period of the low water temperature strongly suggests that phyical factor affecting thallus growth may be surface-water temperature. C. borealis is a cold-temperate species which spreads to the north, whereas C. crassa is a warmtemperate species, being distrubuted to the south (Boo 1985;Seo et al 2003).…”

“…Agardh (1851). The genus includes four species; C. borealis (Nakamura) Seo, Cho et Boo, C. crassa (Okamura) Nakamura, C. hypnaeoides (Okamura) Nakamura, and C. japonica Noda (Nakamura 1950(Nakamura , 1965Boo and Yoshida 1991;Seo et al 2003). Campylaephora borealis was classified as one of the five forms in C. crassa (Nakamura 1950;Itono 1977), but it was recently separated from C. crassa based on the basiphyte range and the plastid DNA data (Seo et al 2003).…”

“…The genus includes four species; C. borealis (Nakamura) Seo, Cho et Boo, C. crassa (Okamura) Nakamura, C. hypnaeoides (Okamura) Nakamura, and C. japonica Noda (Nakamura 1950(Nakamura , 1965Boo and Yoshida 1991;Seo et al 2003). Campylaephora borealis was classified as one of the five forms in C. crassa (Nakamura 1950;Itono 1977), but it was recently separated from C. crassa based on the basiphyte range and the plastid DNA data (Seo et al 2003). Although C. borealis is very similar to C. crassa and both species occur on the east coast of Korea (Boo and Lee 1994;Seo et al 2003), C. borealis is more closely related to C. hypnaeoides than C. crassa (Seo et al 2003).…”

“…Campylaephora borealis was classified as one of the five forms in C. crassa (Nakamura 1950;Itono 1977), but it was recently separated from C. crassa based on the basiphyte range and the plastid DNA data (Seo et al 2003). Although C. borealis is very similar to C. crassa and both species occur on the east coast of Korea (Boo and Lee 1994;Seo et al 2003), C. borealis is more closely related to C. hypnaeoides than C. crassa (Seo et al 2003).…”