Leveillea major sp. nov. (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) from the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

A new species of the red algal genus Leveillea, xL. major M.J.Wynne, is described from the Sultanate of Oman, the northern Arabian Sea. This species is distinguished from L. jungermannioides (Hering et Martens) Harvey, a species widely reported from the Indian and tropical western Pacific Oceans, by its larger stature, its erect habit, its bladelets, which are larger, more attenuate, and strongly overlapping, and the absence of tendril formation by the distal portions of axes. Tetrasporangiate thalli are described in the new species, which is known only from the Sultanate of Oman. Leveillea jungermannioides also occurs in Oman, and the two species co-occur in the Al Sharqia region.