First Report of the Genus Sorocarpus Pringsheim (Fucophyceae, Ectocarpaceae) in the Mediterranean

Abstract

The genus Sorocarpus (Fucophyceae, Ectocarpaceae) is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean. The genus is characterized by the clustered plurilocular sporangia, often several on a cell, true phaeophycean hairs and several disc-shaped chloroplasts in each cell. The alga was only collected at one site in the city of Venice, growing on the hard substrata, close to the lower limit of the midlittoral zone (−0.4 m). It appears difficult to assign the collected specimens to any well defined species, owing to the lack of definite morphological characteristics.