A new species of marine algae from korea based on morphology and molecular data: Gelidium Palmatum sp. nov. (gelidiales, rho-dophyta)

Abstract

Two species of the agar-yielding genus Gelidium, G. galapagense and G. isabelae, have previously been reported from Korea but their occurrence has not been confirmed with molecular data. We intensively collected samples of Gelidium from Jeju Island, where the two species were reported, and the southern coast of Korea. Phylogenetic analyses based on cox1 and rbcL sequences revealed that only a single species occurred in Korea. The Korean species was distantly related to G. galapagense and G. isabelae from the Galápagos Islands, and formed a clade with G. microdonticum, G. millari-anum, and G. pakistanicum. A new species, G. palmatum, is described for those specimens that were previously recog-nized as either G. galapagense or G. isabelae from Korea. G. palmatum is small in size (up to 0.7 cm), with compressed, lanceolate axes, irregular, digitate to palmate branches, abundant rhizines in the medulla, tetrasporangial sori without sterile margins, and rounded bilocular cystocarps borne subapically on palmate branchlets.