| Institution: | 1. Departamento de Biología, Escuela de Ciencias, Universidad de Oriente, Código Postal 6101, Cumaná, Venezuela
Author for correspondence: e-mail almiguel@yahoo.com.;2. Botany Department, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35060, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;3. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Centre of Hormozgan, P.O. Box 79145-1577, Bandarabbas, Iran;4. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 11461, CEP 05422-970, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Abstract: | Two new species of Gracilariopsis from the Indian Ocean are proposed—Gracilariopsis (Gp.) mclachlanii Buriyo, Bellorin et M. C. Oliveira sp. nov. from Tanzania and Gracilariopsis persica Bellorin, Sohrabipour et E. C. Oliveira sp. nov. from Iran—based on morphology and DNA sequence data (rbcL gene and SSU rDNA). Both species fit the typical features of Gracilariopsis: axes cylindrical throughout, freely and loosely ramified up to four orders, with an abrupt transition in cell size from medulla to cortex, cystocarps lacking tubular nutritive cells and superficial spermatangia. Nucleotide sequence comparisons of rbcL and SSU rDNA placed both species into the Gracilariopsis clade as distinct species from all the accepted species for this genus, forming a deeply divergent lineage together with some species from the Pacific. The new species are very difficult to distinguish on morphological grounds from other species of Gracilariopsis, stressing the importance of homologous molecular marker comparisons for the species recognition in this character‐poor genus. |
