150 Phylogenetic Systematics and Phenology of the Hawaiian Endemic Freshwater Red Alga, Batrachospermum Spermatiophorum

Müller et al. (1998) noted that freshwater collections of the genus Bangia formed a distinct group separate from marine entities in gene sequence analyses. Recently, the species epithet B. atropurpurea has been resurrected to represent this freshwater lineage. This taxon is one of many invasive species within the Laurentian Great Lakes. B. atropurpurea was first observed in Lake Erie in 1964 and by 1982 was observed in all of the Great lakes except Lake Superior. The present study was initiated to examine the further spread of B. atropurpurea and determine the origin of these populations. Hence, a survey of all the Great Lakes was conducted in 1995 (86 sites) and again in 2002 (104 sites). Bangia was observed at 43 sites in 1995 and 39 sites in 2002. For the first time, this alga has been observed to be present in the St. Lawrence River (1995), Georgian Bay on Lake Huron (2002) and Lake Simcoe (eastern shore, 2002) and hence this alga appears to be spreading into new locations. Cluster analyses of morphological data reveal three distinct groupings that do not separate according to location or lake basin. Preliminary analyses of ITS 1 and 2 sequences show differences among samples within Lake Ontario and among all Lakes; however, collections from Lake Simcoe are very similar in sequence. We are continuing to examine the relationship of Great Lakes populations with freshwater collections from Europe.