Porphyridium purpureum (bory) drew et ross (porphyridiales, rhodophyceae)—first record of a marine unicellular red alga in New Zealand

Abstract

The purpose of this note is to record the unicellular red alga Porphyridium purpureum (Bory) Drew et Ross (Porphyridiales, Rhodophyceae) from a marine site in New Zealand. This is the first New Zealand record of a marine unicellular red alga. P. purpureum has a cosmopolitan distribution and is found characteristically in brackish inland salt marshes, limestone areas and in terrestrial habitats on soil with a rich supply of organic matter. There have also been reports of this alga from marine habitats in Europe and North America (Kylin, 1937; Ott, 1972; Moestrup et al., 1975). In New Zealand there have been two records of unicellular red algae identified as P. purpureum: Lindsay (1865), as Palmella cruenta Ag., from limestone caves, and Chapman et al. (1957), as Porphyridium cruentum Naegeli, in a greenhouse. Neither account gives any details about the organism, and no reference specimens are designated, so that it is not possible to verify these records, although the habitats given are typical of P. purpureum. © 1988 Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.