Neither Callophyllis nor Gelidium: Blastophyllis gen. nov. and Zuccarelloa gen. nov. (Kallymeniaceae, Rhodophyta) for three New Zealand species

Abstract

:Studies of New Zealand Kallymeniaceae have revealed a great deal of diversity, providing new perspectives on relationships within the family and necessitating the establishment of new genera. Based on rbcL, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), psbA sequence analyses and morphological observations, we reassessed the phylogenetic relationships of three endemic species from southern New Zealand. A new genus, Blastophyllis, was established to accommodate two distinctive species, currently known as Callophyllis hombroniana and Callophyllis calliblepharoides. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that these species were distantly related to Callophyllis sensu stricto, including the generitype Callophyllis variegata from Chile. Blastophyllis had compressed thalli consisting of branches with short side proliferations and protruding cystocarps developed on the lateral proliferations. Zuccarelloa gen. nov. was established to accommodate a peculiar species erroneously referred to the genus Gelidium, as Gelidium ceramoides. Zuccarelloa was different from every other genus in the Kallymeniaceae, having filiform thalli, small roundish cell, resembling rhizines, intermixed with large medullary cells and reproductive structures confined to swollen apical parts, similar to sori in Gelidium. A sister relationship between these two new genera was recovered in the concatenated COI-rbcL analysis and in both COI and rbcL single gene analyses, albeit with only moderate support. This relationship was not recovered in analyses of the less variable psbA dataset, which also failed to resolve some other relationships within the Kallymeniaceae.