Marine Prasiolales (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) from New Zealand and the Balleny Islands, with descriptions of Prasiola novaezelandiae sp. nov. and Rosenvingiella australis sp. nov.

Abstract

Heesch S., Sutherland J.E. and Nelson W.A. 2012. Marine Prasiolales (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) from New Zealand and the Balleny Islands, with descriptions of Prasiola novaezelandiae sp. nov. and Rosenvingiella australis sp. nov. Phycologia 51: 217–227. DOI: 2216/10-95.1Molecular systematic studies using rbcL sequences of marine populations of Prasiolales in the New Zealand archipelago (29 to 54°S) and the Balleny Islands (66°15′ to 67°10′S) confirm the presence of at least six species in this region. Four species of Prasiola are distinguished by the sequence analyses. Three populations from the main islands of New Zealand belong to a new species, described here as Prasiola novaezelandiae sp. nov. One species belongs to the Prasiola stipitata complex; another species from Antipodes Island, referred to here as Prasiola ‘borealis’, is related to specimens from British Columbia and Alaska in the North Pacific. The fourth species, Prasiola crispa, previously recorded from mainland New Zealand, was collected only from the Balleny Islands, and has not been confirmed from any New Zealand mainland collections yet. Two representatives of the filamentous genus Rosenvingiella are confirmed to occur in New Zealand. Specimens collected in Otago (southeastern South Island) and on Chatham Island belong to a new species, described here as Rosenvingiella australis sp. nov., whereas a single population found on the Otago coast is identified as Rosenvingiella ‘constricta’, a new record for New Zealand and for the Southern Hemisphere. Rosenvingiella polyrhiza, a cosmopolitan species previously recorded from New Zealand, was not found. Earlier records of Prasiola species from the New Zealand region are discussed.