Abstract
The benthic macroalgal flora from the eastern Ionian coastal area of the Peninsula Salentina is scarcely studied. This study gives a contribution to the knowledge on its biodiversity in this area, which also includes marine caves, and the geographical distribution of some interesting species. A total of 174 macroalgae (119 Rhodophyta, 27 Ochrophyta, and 28 Chlorophyta) were identified. Six species are first records for the region, one of which, Liagora ceranoides, represents a new record for the Italian flora. The vegetation of most of the wave-exposed rocky substrata, as well as of the two sulphureous caves at Santa Cesarea Terme is characterised by extensive populations of Corallinales. The chorological spectrum of the flora shows a high occurrence of Indo-Pacific and Circumtropical elements, thus resulting more similar to that of floras of the Greek Ionian Sea.
Highlights
The evaluation of marine macroalgal diversity of Apulia is interesting due to the vast coastline of this region (994.6 km, including the Tremiti Islands) and its geographical position, acting as a bridge between the east and the west of the Mediterranean basin
With regards to the macroalgae collected in the caves, 31 species (27 Rhodophyta and 4 Chlorophyta) were recorded, all falling within the whole floristic contingent of the investigated coastline (Table 2)
The present study documented approximately a 30% of the species previously recorded for the Apulian region
Summary
The evaluation of marine macroalgal diversity of Apulia (southeastern Italy) is interesting due to the vast coastline of this region (994.6 km, including the Tremiti Islands) and its geographical position, acting as a bridge between the east and the west of the Mediterranean basin. The Apulian flora of the Adriatic side resulted to be richer than the Ionian one (569 vs 450 species). These dissimilarities, probably due to different coastline extents (~600 vs 230 km), definitely reflect the scarce floristic surveys carried out on the Ionian shores, with several large areas, such as the eastern Ionian side, still remaining poorly explored (Cormaci & al., 2001). Afterwards, very few floristic papers on the Apulian coasts were published (Bottalico & Delle Foglie, 2003; Cecere & al., 2005). New records were occasionally reported (Bottalico & Delle Foglie, 2002; Bottalico & al., 2006) and three new species were described: Parviphycus felicinii C.
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