Misleading morphologies and the importance of sequencing type specimens for resolving coralline taxonomy (<scp>C</scp>orallinales, <scp>R</scp>hodophyta): <i><scp>P</scp>achyarthron cretaceum</i> is <i><scp>C</scp>orallina officinalis</i>

Abstract

Coralline red algae play a key role in the ecology of near shore marine ecosystems and are increasingly being used to study the effects of climate change in the marine environment. Corallines are very difficult to identify to species, and even to genus, using morpho-anatomy, likely complicating studies of their ecology, physiology, and biodiversity. We sequenced a 296 base pair fragment of chloroplast DNA from a 187-year-old isolectotype specimen of Pachyarthron cretaceum, a morphologically distinct geniculate species, to demonstrate that coralline morphology is often misleading and that species names can only be applied unequivocally by comparing DNA sequences from type material with sequences from field-collected specimens. Our results indicate that Pachyarthron cretaceum is synonymous with Corallina officinalis.