Audouinella chalybaea (Roth) Bory

Ganesan, E. K., West, John A. & Jr, Orlando Necchi, 2018, A catalogue and bibliography of non-marine (freshwater and estuarine) Rhodophyta (red algae) of India, Phytotaxa 364 (1), pp. 1-48 : 11

Audouinella chalybaea (Roth) Bory

Taxonomic synonym: Chantransia “chalybea ” (Lyngbye) Schmitz Misra & Dey 1959, p. 128, figs 5, 6.

Distribution in India: Uttarakhand (Dehra Dun, waterfall in Kansro).

Notes: A widely distributed species mostly in warm temperate regions of the world ( Hu & Wei 2006; Eloranta & Kwandras 2007; Eloranta et al. 2011; Guiry & Guiry 2017).

The Indian record is considered tentative, since it is based on a collection made about 50 years ago with no subsequent reports. Although numerous monosporangia were shown in the Indian plants ( Misra & Dey 1959, figs 5, 6), no mention was made of a notable characteristic of the species i.e., branches along the main axis are closely appressed to it. Two varieties, A. chalybaea var. thermalis (Nansgrig) Jao and A. chalybaea var. xuzhourensis Hua & Xie are currently recognized ( Guiry & Guiry 2017). Vis & Kapustin (2009) based on their studies on an Ukarine Batrachospermum record are of the opinion that A. chalybaea may be most probably a Chantransia phase in the life-history of a batrachospermalean entity.