Dictyota ceylanica Kützing, 1859: 11

Coppejans, Eric, Leliaert, Frederik, Verbruggen, Heroen, de Clerck, Olivier, Schils, Tom, de Vriese, Thomas & Marie, Daniel, 2004, The marine green and brown algae of Rodrigues (Mauritius, Indian Ocean), Journal of Natural History 38 (23), pp. 2959-3020 : 3000-3001

* Dictyota ceylanica Kützing, 1859: 11 , pl. 25, figure 1

References: Cribb, 1954: 21, pl. 3, figure 9 (~ D. divaricata ); Jaasund, 1970: 76–77, figures 2E, 3E, F, I (~ D. divaricata Lamouroux and D. ceylanica ); Tseng, 1984: 192, pl. 97, figure 4 (~ D. divaricata ); Coppejans et al., 1995b: figures 19, 21 (~ D. divaricata and ~ D. cf. dichotoma (Hudson) Lamouroux var. intricata (C. Agardh) Greville ); De Clerck and Coppejans, 1997: 413–414; De Clerck, 2003: 52–57, figures 15, 16 ; Littler and Littler, 2003: 168, top figure p. 169.

Type locality. Sri Lanka .

Voucher. HEC 14745 (zF), 22 September 2001, Grand Baie (s.s. 11) .

Ecology. Epilithic in the shallow subtidal zone.

Distribution. Australia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mauritius ( De Clerck, 2003: 52), Pakistan, Rodrigues (this paper), Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Yemen.

* Dictyota friabilis Setchell, 1926: 91–92 , pl. 13, figures 4–7 , pl. 20, figure 1

References: Dawson, 1954: 401, figure 16A, B ; Womersley and Bailey, 1970: 290–291; Magruder and Hunt, 1979: 43, unnumbered pl.; Tseng, 1984: 194, pl. 98, figure 1 ; Coppejans et al., 1995b: figure 16 (as D. sp. 4), Trono, 1997: 109, figure 75; De Clerck and Coppejans, 1997: 417; Payri et al., 2000: 132,

figure p. 133; De Clerck, 2003: 89–93, figures 28, 29 ; Littler and Littler, 2003: 168, middle figure p. 169.

Type locality. Tafaa Point, Tahiti.

Vouchers. HEC 14808, 26 September 2001, Chaland (s.s. 8) ; HEC 14879, 1 October 2001, Totor (s.s. 9) .

Ecology. Epilithic between branches of acroporid corals at 15 m depth.

Distribution. Aldabra Islands, Bangladesh, Diego Garcia Atoll, Egypt, Kenya, Maldives, Malaysia, Mauritius ( De Clerck, 2003: 89), Réunion ( De Clerck, 2003: 89), Rodrigues (this paper), Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tanzania.

Unchecked data from literature

Dictyota dichotoma (Hudson) Lamouroux, 1809a: 42

Mentioned by Dickie (1877a) but not among our recent collection.

According to De Clerck (2003), this species does not occur in the tropical part of the Indian Ocean. Specimens identified as such belong to a variety of species, most commonly D. ciliolata Sonder ex Kützing and D. ceylanica Kützing.

Figures

FIG. 1. Sampling stations. See table 1 for a list of the stations and their GPS coordinates. Map redrawn from Wells (1988). The outer grey line represents the fringing reef.

FIGS 7–13. Caulerpa brachypus, variation in the general morphology and margin structure of the assimilators. (7) Large growth form collected in grooves between bumps of coral rubble, frequently branching and with secondary stolons (HEC 14867). (8) Intermediately large growth form with wide assimilators (HEC 14769). (9) Intermediately large growth form with relatively narrow assimilators (HEC 14656a). (10) Typical specimen with simple or scarcely branched assimilators (HEC 14612). (11) Assimilator with smooth margin (HEC 14612). (12) Assimilator with coarsely dentate margin (HEC 14656a). (13) Assimilator with densely dentate margin (HEC 14718). Scale bars: 2 cm (7–10); 1 mm (11–13).

FIGS 2–6. Chlorophyta. (2) Microdictyon tenuius, detail of branching and anastomosing patterns (HEC 14849). (3) Bryopsis pennata var. pennata, branchlets of last order contiguous and in a single plane (HEC 14796 p.p.). (4) Bryopsis pennata var. leprieurii, branchlets of last order interrupted and in a single plane (HEC 14757).(5) Bryopsis pennata var. secunda, branchlets of last order curved in one direction (HEC 14796 p.p.). (6) Chamaedoris delphinii (HEC 14617). Scale bars: 250 mm (2); 5 mm (3–5); 1 cm (6).

FIGS 19–24. Chlorophyta. (19) Caulerpa nummularia, proliferating from primary, peltate assimilator (HEC 14609 p.p.). (20) Rhipidosiphon javensis (HEC 14763). (21) Udotea sp. (HEC 14759). (22–24) Udotea palmetta (HEC 14817): (22) general morphology of large, fertile specimen; (23) gametangia growing from the blade surface; (24) gametangia growing from the blade margin. Scale bars: 2 mm (19, 20); 1 cm (21, 22); 1 mm (23); 500 mm (24).

FIGS 14–18. Caulerpa. (14) Caulerpa cupressoides var. lycopodium f. elegans, small, elegant specimen (HEC 14691). (15) Caulerpa cupressoides var. lycopodium f. elegans, coarse specimen with richly branched assimilators (HEC 14820). (16) Caulerpa sertularioides f. sertularioides, last order branchlets in a single plane (HEC 14739). (17) Caulerpa sertularioides f. farlowii, last order branchlets in several planes (HEC 14690). (18) Caulerpa webbiana (HEC 14699). Scale bars: 1 cm.

FIGS 25–30. Phaeophyta. (25, 26) Cladosiphon mauritianus (HEC 14789b): (25) general morphology; (26) apical branches. (27, 28) Chnoospora implexa (HEC 14674b): (27) compact form; (28) thin, slender form. (29) Hydroclathrus tenuis (HEC 14756d). (30) Asteronema breviarticulatum, rope-like appearance of intertwined filaments (HEC 14884). Scale bars: 2 cm (25); 1 cm (26–30).