Gelidium brasiliense sp. nov. (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta): a diminutive agarophyte from Brazil

Abstract

An ongoing biodiversity survey along the Brazilian coast revealed a previously unknown species of Gelidium. Morphological studies coupled with molecular phylogenetic analyses, using the molecular markers rbcL and cox1, confirmed that this is a new species of red algae, which is described and illustrated here as Gelidium brasiliense. This species is extremely small and has been found growing epiphytically on the thalli of the green alga Udotea flabellum, in the reef environments in Espírito Santo, Brazil, or epilitically in northeastern Brazil.