Seaweeds of the western coast of tropical Africa and adjacent islands: a critical assessment. I. Chlorophyta and Xanthophyta

Abstract

This paper assembles and, so far as is possible without extended field and herbarium studies, examines critically the validity of records of marine and brackish‐water Chlorophyta and Xanthophyta for the western coast of tropical Africa. The whole mainland coastline from the northern boundary of Spanish Sahara southwards to the southern boundary of South West Africa, the oceanic islands from the Salvage Islands southwards to Ascension, and all islands close to the African mainland coast are included in the area covered. Each species entry includes all traced records for the species, the names which have previously been applied to it in the area, and additional comments or evaluation, where necessary. Comments have also been made at generic level in some difficult cases.

Marine benthic algae of Namibia

“…Finally, it is also worth mentioning the works by , John et al (1994) and Lawson et al (1995) about marine algae of the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa, in which, among others, we can find the citations of certain species of red algae from Namibia.…”

“…One of them (Polysiphonia namibiensis) is described as a new species from material collected in this country; others are cited in this geographical area for the first time, although in most cases the authors do not specify the origin of the samples and do not refer to any other work. Apart from these works, which represent an important advance in the knowledge of the Atlantic flora of southern Africa, scarcely documented until then, there are other works that give information about the distribution of some of the cited species of Namibia, such as the ones by Anderson and Bolton (1990) and Levitt et al (1995).Finally, it is also worth mentioning the works by , John et al (1994) and Lawson et al (1995) about marine algae of the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa, in which, among others, we can find the citations of certain species of red algae from Namibia. …”

“…For each taxon, the authors indicate the localities where it had been cited and if such is the case the study referred in the citation. Apart from the work of Lawson et al (1990), that was the basis for the elaboration of the catalogue, we also took into account the following studies: Molloy (1990), Bolton (1990), Rull Lluch andGómez Garreta (1993), Chamberlain (1994Chamberlain ( , 1996, Keats (1994, 1995), Keats and Chamberlain (1995), Lawson et al (1995), Molloy and Bolton (1995), Ste- et al (1997), Keats and Maneveldt (1997) and Engledow (1998).In the study by Lawson et al (1990), a considerable number of taxa are identified only at a genus level. Although the authors indicate that the specimens referred to in their citations are deposited at the BOL herbarium, they neither specify the herbarium number nor refer to the description of the material assigned to these taxa.…”

“…We hold that this species must be excluded from the Namibian flora. (14) See the remark at page 51.(15) Only recorded from Swakopmund by Wynne (1986), who identifies the plant with certain reservations since he lacks fertile specimens.(16) Although include this species in Grateloupia doryphora, Engledow (1998) prefer to keep it separate due to its divergent form and ecology.(17) Lawson et al (1995) indicate the presence of this species in Namibia on the basis of the work of Simons and Hewitt (1976). According to these last authors, P. cornea occurs from East London (South African east coast) to Cape Frio (Namibia).…”

Taxonomic reassessment ofPolysiphonia foetidissima(Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) and similar species, includingP. schneideri, a newly introduced species in Europe

“…P. foetidissima (• type locality, • reports with descriptions, ○ reports), P. isogona (▬ type locality, ▬ reports with descriptions), P. kappannae (♦ type locality), P. nizamudinii (▼ type locality), P. schneideri (* type locality), P. stuposa (■ type locality, □ reports) and P. tepida (▲ type locality, ▲ reports with descriptions, Δ reports). References: 1, Kützing (1864); 2, Bornet (1892); 3, Collins & Hervey (1917);4, Howe (1918); 5, Batten (1923);6, Newton (1931);7, Hollenberg (1958);8, Lancelot (1966);9, Sreenivasa Rao (1967);10, Oliveira Filho (1969);11, Hollenberg (1968);12, Giaccone (1969); 13, Ardré (1970);14, Cordeiro-Marino (1977); 15, Kapraun (1977);16, Farooqui & Begum (1978); 17, Giaccone (1978); 18, Kapraun (1979);19, Taylor (1960);20, Schnetter & Schnetter (1981);21, Weisscher (1983); 22, Audiffred & Prud´homme van Reine (1985); 23, Giaccone et al (1985); 24, Conde & Soto (1986); 25, Silva et al (1987); 26, Ballesteros (1990); 27, Adams (1991); 28, Schneider & Searles (1991);29, Ballesteros (1993); 30, Lawson et al (1995); 31, Silva et al (1996); 32, Abbott (1999);33, Coll & Oliveira (1999) form short straight series. Despite our efforts, we did not have the opportunity to examine type material of either species.…”