Hydropuntia Montagne (1842: 7)

Gurgel, Carlos Frederico D., Norris, James N., Schmidt, William E., Le, Hau Nhu & Fredericq, Suzanne, 2018, Systematics of the Gracilariales (Rhodophyta) including new subfamilies, tribes, subgenera, and two new genera, Agarophyton gen. nov. and Crassa gen. nov., Phytotaxa 374 (1), pp. 1-23 : 9

Hydropuntia Montagne (1842: 7)

GENERITYPE: Hydropuntia urvillei Montagne (1842: 7)

PERTINENT SYNONYMS: Corallopsis urvillei (Montagne) J. Agardh (1876: 410)

Polycavernosa urvillei (Montagne) B.M.Xia et I.A.Abbott (1987: 414)

Gracilaria urvillei (Montagne) I.A. Abbott (in Abbott et al. 1991: 23)

TYPE LOCALITY: Toud Island (Warrior Islet), Torres Strait, off Queensland, Australia.

REMARKS: Since its original description ( Montagne 1842), the genus Hydropuntia has been characterized morphologically and phylogenetically (e.g., Chang & Xia 1963; Fredericq & Norris 1985; Fredericq & Hommersand 1990b; Gurgel & Fredericq 2004, Conklin et al. 2014).

DIAGNOSIS: Thalli crassullaceous to cartilaginous, with percurrent axes, slightly compressed, constricted at the nodes. Spermatangial conceptacles of the medullary type (i.e., Hydropuntia - type, including other definitions such as the Polycavernosa - type, and the henriquesiana - type ” sensu Yamamoto [1984]), scattered, embedded in the cortex and outer medulla; young conceptacles oval, in deep pits surrounded by stretched subcortical cells, becoming lobed as they extend laterally and longitudinally. Cystocarps broad-based, often coming into close contact with the outer pericarp composed of tightly packed fusiform cells bearing short carposporangial chains at periphery. Tubular nutritive cells short, fusing with cells in the inner layer of the outer pericarp that in turn fuse forming tubular pericarp fusion cells in oblique or straight series; outer pericarp thick.

Hydropuntia subgenus Hydropuntia

SPECIES SUBGEN. HYDROPUNTIA : Hydropuntia urvillei Montagne ; and H. eucheumatoides (Harvey) Gurgel et Fredericq.