PHYLLOPHORACEAE, Nageli, 1847

Mead, A., Carlton, J. T., Griffiths, C. L. & Rius, M., 2011, Introduced and cryptogenic marine and estuarine species of South Africa, Journal of Natural History 45 (39 - 40), pp. 2463-2524 : 2508

Family PHYLLOPHORACEAE

Schottera nicaeensis Guiry and Hollenberg, 1975 Cryptogenic

The history, biogeography, and systematics of this European alga in the southern hemisphere remain to be worked out. We are compelled by Lewis and Kraft’s (1979) report that while previously known only from Europe, it has been introduced to Port Philip Bay, Australia. That noted, Silva et al. (1996) report that it was known earlier both from Réunion in the Indian Ocean (in the 1930s) and from Mauritius (where it was described as a new species, Phyllophora morinii Borgesen in 1954). Norris and Aken (1985) then reported it from South Africa. De Clerk et al. (2005) note that it is a “common component of algal turf in intertidal pools”, in several locations in southern KwaZulu-Natal.