REVISION OF BOLDIA ERYTHROSIPHON HERNDON (RHODOPHYTA,BANGIALES)

Collection and study of the freshwater red alga, Boldia, from 10 previously unreported habitats disclosed specimens not assignable to either of the two established species. Boldia angustata Deason and Nichols is reduced to synonomy with the earlier described B. erythrosiphon Herndon because of significant overlap between the specific characteristics. Boldia erythrosiphon Herndon emend Howard and Parker is a pleomorphic alga with a more widespread distribution than previously recorded. It is perennial, alternating between an erect saccate frond and prostrate filaments, and both phases are linked by a basal holdfast of pseudoparenchymatous or filamentous construction. Sexual reproduction was not observed; however, asexual reproduction resulted from monospores released by mature fronds, which then germinated to produce basal structures, and through the initiation of erect uniseriate filaments eventually formed new fronds. Absolute growth requirements were not determined; however, similarities in habitats, specifically the abundance of other red algal genera and a predominance of manganese in both snail and rock substrates of Boldia, suggest an interaction of stream temperature, chemistry, substrate, and photoperiod as limiting the distribution of Boldia erythrosiphon.