Abstract
Molecular-assisted alpha taxonomy has recently become an effective practice in reassessing biodiversity and floristics for a variety of different organisms. This paper presents a series of examples that have been drawn from biodiversity work being carried out on the marine red algae of Bermuda. Molecular sequencing of DNA from Bermuda samples has already begun to greatly alter the makeup of the flora as it was known just decades ago, and will help set a new database for future comparison as climate change affects species composition in the islands.
Highlights
Molecular-assisted alpha taxonomy (MAAT) has recently emerged as an effective technique due to its ability to conquer the challenges of classifying many organisms prone to simple or convergent morphologies
Florida) that for the present remain as C. acicularis, but even these locations should be sampled and their genetics compared against European sequences of this species in order to confirm that this species remains as a true member of both the eastern and western Atlantic floras
Even relatively heavily studied genera in marine floras that were thought to be well understood using morphology and anatomy, have been revised based on recent MAAT studies [41,42,43], suggesting that substantial taxonomic revisions are likely over the few decades
Summary
Molecular-assisted alpha taxonomy (MAAT) has recently emerged as an effective technique due to its ability to conquer the challenges of classifying many organisms prone to simple or convergent morphologies. 50 years after the Collins and Hervey report, 40 new species of algae were added to the Bermuda flora and, within the context of the Caribbean, many Bermudian seaweed names were changed These works brought the total marine red, green and brown species in the islands to 380. These sporangia divide in one of three distinct division patterns typical for genera, and at times, higher taxonomic units Characters derived from these stages of the life history are critical in differentiating the majority of red algal species, but many collections have either only male reproductive features or none at all, making morphological convergence of two species at the gross anatomical level a vexing problem
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
