Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional

Order Corallinales

Family Corallinaceae

Sub-family Corallinoideae

Corallina Linnaeus

Thalli composed of calcified crustose holdfasts and erect, pinnately-branched fronds with calcified intergenicula (segments) linked by uncalcified genicula (articulations). Fertile intergenicula with single, terminal, swollen conceptacles, each with single, terminal ostiole and rarely with surmounting branchlets. (Pseudolateral conceptacles, when present, visible as swellings in surfaces of intergenicula). Gametophytes dioecious.

Members of this genus are ubiquitous in temperate and boreal waters. Twenty species are currently recognized worldwide (Guiry & Guiry 2014).

Only two Corallina species are recorded from the south coast: C. officinalis and C. berteroi. However, COI barcoding of several specimens identified as the former shows that they are different from European C. officinalis (Williamson et al. 2015; Kogame et al. 2017) and entities identifiable as C. berteroi have not been barcoded. It is clear that Corallina from South Africa needs further study.

Key to Corallina species

1 a. Branches mainly terete, long (to 5-6 mm), no adventitious branching from surface of segments

C. berteroi

1 b. Terminal branches subterete to compressed, short (to 1.5 mm), adventitious branching from (mainly proximal) surfaces of segments

Corallina sp. 1

 

References Corallina

Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2014. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 12 March 2014.

Kogame, K., Uwai, S., Anderson, RJ., Choi, H-G & JJ Bolton. 2017. DNA barcoding of South African geniculate coralline red algae (Corallinales, Rhodophyta). South African Journal of Botany 108: 337-341.

Williamson, C.J., Walker, R.H., Robba, L., Yesson, C., Russell, S., Irvine L.M. & J. Brodie. 2015. Toward resolution of species diversity and distribution in the calcified red algal genera Corallina and Ellisolandia (Corallinales, Rhodophyta). Phycologia 54: 2-11. 

 

Cite this record as:

Anderson RJ, Stegenga H, Bolton JJ. 2016. Seaweeds of the South African South Coast.
World Wide Web electronic publication, University of Cape Town, http://southafrseaweeds.uct.ac.za; Accessed on 19 December 2024.