Botryocladia occidentalis (Børgesen) Kylin 1931 , p. 18

Schmidt, W. E., Lozada-Troche, C., Ballantine, D. L., Arakaki, N., Gabriel, D., Norris, J. N. & Fredericq, S., 2017, Taxonomic transfer of the red algae Chrysymenia enteromorpha and C. wrightii to the genus Botryocladia (Rhodymeniaceae, Rhodymeniales), Phytotaxa 324 (2), pp. 122-138 : 133

Botryocladia occidentalis (Børgesen) Kylin 1931, p. 18

Figures 23–30 .

BASIONYM: Chrysymenia uvaria var. occidentalis Børgesen 1920: 403 , fig. 388 (as Chrysymenia uvaria (L.) J. Ag.).

TYPE LOCALITY: Between St. John and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea,Western Atlantic.

DISTRIBUTION: From the Carolinas and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea ( Ballantine and Aponte 2002, Gavio and Fredericq 2003, Dawes and Mathieson 2008).

SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Caribbean Panama: STRI Beach, Bocas del Toro, LAF-8-31-09-1-18, 9°21’7.02”N, 82°15’19.85”W, in the drift, 31.viii.2009 ( Figs 22–29 ). SW Gulf of Mexico: Campeche Banks, LAF-NSF-II-30-4 ( WES227 ), 21°06’60”, N 92 °08’66” W, 9.vi.2005, 51–54 m depth; LAF-NSF-II-16-18 ( WES38 ), 22°16’ 020” N, 90°43’230” W, 7.vi.2005, 51–52 m depth. NE Gulf of Mexico : Florida Middle Grounds, FL, LAF-NSF-III-7-4-06- 12-3 ( WES 90 ), 28°10’ 280” N, 84°01’950” W, 4.vii.2006, 41–42 m depth, and LAF-NSF-III-7-4-06-3-10 ( WES67 ), 28°37’260” N, 84°24’380” W, 4.vii.2006, 45 m depth .

RESULTS: Thalli are rose red to golden-pink, erect, up to 11cm in length, with irregular pseudodichotomous branching ( Figs 23–24 ) of the stipe. The main axes and branches are terete, 0.9 to 2.5 mm diam., of solid construction, composed of small pigmented round to oval, cortical cells (5 μm in diameter) gradually increasing in size inward; medullary cells are large, hyaline, ovoid, up to 50 μm wide ( Fig. 25 ). The axes and branches bear pyriform vesicles ( Fig. 24 ), 3–7 mm long by 3–4.5 mm in diameter. The vesicle walls are 2–(3)–4 cells wide, 66–100–135 μm thick ( Fig. 26 ). The cortices of vesicles are complete ( Fig. 27 ), uni-to bistratose, pigmented, composed of round to ovoid cells 3–6 μm in diameter, and distal to the larger medullary cells. The medulla is composed of 1–(2) layers of hyaline, polygonal cells, 77–(100–132)–180 μm wide; the outer medulla of intermediate-sized cells. Gland cells are spherical, borne singly, rarely in pairs on unmodified medullary gland-bearing cells ( Figs. 28–29 ). Carposporophytes are borne on the vesicles, visible as slightly raised protrusions extending both inwardly and outwardly ( Fig. 30 ).

REPRESENTATIVE SEQUENCES: AY168660, KT154746, HQ400594 (rbc L); EU086462 (SSU rDNA).

Figures

FIGURES 23–30. Botryocladia occidentalis from Bocas del Toro, Panama, LAF-8-17-09-1-10. 23). Habit of specimens in situ. Scale bar 2 cm. 24) Habit of female gametophyte with cystocarps. Scale bar 1 cm. 25). Cross section through axis. Scale bar 50 μm. 26) Surface view of vesicle with complete cortication. Scale bar 50 μm. 27) Cross section through vesicle showing cortical and medullary cell layers. Scale bar 25 μm. 28) Surface view of medullary cells bearing gland cells (arrows). Scale bar 50 μm. 29) Cross section through vesicle showing gland cells (arrows) borne on unmodified medullary glandiferous cells. Scale bar 50 μm. 30) Raised carposporophyte (arrow)

FIGURES 15–22. Botryocladia wrightii (Harvey) W.E. Schmidt, D.L. Ballantine et Fredericq, comb. nov., from Henashi, Aomori-ken, Japan, MY 18-054. 15) Habit of non-reproductive plant. 16) Surface view of thallus showing complete cortication. Scale bar 40 μm. 17) Cross section through mid thallus region showing pigmented cortical cells and hyaline medullary cells. Scale bar 40 μm. 18) Cross section through middle portion of thallus region, showing irregular gland cell (arrowhead) on modified glandiferous medullary cell. Scale bar 40 μm. 19) Cross section through mid thallus region showing cortical cells, and medullary cell giving rise to internal filament (arrow). Scale bar 40 μm. 20) Medullary cell and internal filament (arrows). Scale bar 40 μm. 21) Cross section through middle part of holdfast showing cortical cells and medullary cells with dense aggregations of internal filaments. Scale bar 0.25 mm. 22) Internal medullary filaments in mid holdfast region, with pit-connection (arrowhead) linking one cell to a large medullary cell. Scale bar 40 μm.