Morphological review ofPelvetia andSilvetia (Fucaceae, Phaeophyta) with an emphasis on phylogenetic relationships

We compared the morphology of all four members ofPelvetia andSilvetia (Fucaceae, Phaeophyta), with an emphasis on phylogenetic relationships.Silvetia is segregated fromPelvetia because it has two, longitudinally divided eggs in the oogonium. In contrast, the eggs of the genusPelvetia are transversally divided. A cladistic analysis, based on 17 morphological features, shows thatPelvetia is closely related toHesperophycus andPelvetiopsis, as are three species ofSilvetia. We can infer from the cladistic tree and biogeographic information that some silvetian ancestor populations from the northern Pacific region likely evolved toS. babingtonii in northern Japan and then moved to Korea and California (USA), whereS. siliquosa andS. compressa, respectively, diverged. Our morphological study corroborates the DNA-based phytogeny and the ensuing taxonomy for the two genera. These results demonstrate the necessity for systematically revising the family Fucaceae to emphasize egg development, rather than egg number, in the oogonium, as a diagnostic character.