Highlights of Recent Collections of Marine Algae from the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

AbstractCollections of benthic marine algae made over the past 3 years on the Dhofar coast of the Sultanate of Oman have continued to provide a more complete picture of the floristic affinities of this up‐to‐now poorly explored region. This Algal Biodiversity Project of Oman was funded by the British Government's Darwin Initiative grant for the ‘Survival of Species’ and managed by HTS Development Ltd., of the UK. A rich and floristically complicated flora is emerging, with connections to subtropical and warm temperate regions. Many new algal taxa have been discovered and described, and numerous new records for Oman or for the Indian Ocean have been reported. Some species newly reported for Oman (and the Indian Ocean) had previously been known from Japan (Distromium decumbens, Kallymenia crassiuscula, Dudresnaya japonica, and Chondria crassicaulis). Sporochnus pedunculatus and Pedobesia simplex had been known from the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean and are new records for the Indian Ocean. Some new species of red algae have been described, such as a Dipterocladia and a Plocamium. Some brown algal novelties have also been discovered, including new species of Turbinaria and Jolyna, and a new genus of Chordariaceae. The macroalgal flora of southern Oman is rich with representatives of Codium, Scinaia, Galaxaura, Melanothamnus, and the families Gelidiaceae and Dictyotaceae. Several representative marine algae from southern Oman will be depicted and discussed.