Phycocalidia species (Bangiales, Rhodophyta), from the warm West Coast of India

Abstract

The coast of India is reported to have eight species of bladed Bangiales, five assigned to Porphyra and three to Phycocalidia. Species tend to be seasonal, occurring particularly in the winter and monsoon season. During a reassessment of the diversity of these algae on the Indian coast, a new species of bladed Bangiales, Phycocalidia sukshma M.G.Kavale & M.A.Kazi sp. nov., was discovered and is described from Karwar on the west coast of India. It was collected intertidally during the monsoon season, particularly from the uppermost part of the shore. The species is monostromatic, thin and delicate in texture with 16 spermatia per spermatangium and eight zygotospores per zygotosporangium. The blade margin is undulate with very rare denticulations. Analysis of plastid rbcL and mitochondrial COI-5P resolved Ph. sukshma as a distinct clade, sister to Brazilian and Indian specimens of Ph. vietnamensis. The COI-5P data also revealed that the species known as Porphyra kanyakumariensis Krishnamurthy & Baluswami formed a clade within the genus Phycocalidia and a new combination is made. Phycocalidia kanyakumariensis was collected during the monsoon from the Kanyakumari coast, Tamil Nadu and Mulloor and Leela beach (Kovalam), Kerala. Our work adds to the growing number of warm water species known in this group, indicating the need for further revision of the bladed Bangiales of India and globally.