Janieae and Lithotricheae: two new tribes of articulated Corallinaceae (Rhodophyta)

Abstract

AbstractEvidence now available warrants segregating the genera of two subfamilies of articulated Corallinaceae (Rhodophyta) into tribes. Within the subfamily Corallinoideae, the tribe Janieae (comprising Jania, Haliptilon, and Cheilosproum) is distinguished from the Corallineae primarily by thick, compact carposporophytic fusion cells bearing only marginal carposporangial filaments, by male conceptacles with narrow chambers and short canals, and by a relatively small number of sporangia in each tetrasporangial conceptacle. Within the subfamily Amphiroideae, the tribe Lithotricheae (comprising only the monotypic genus Lithothrix) is distinguished from the Amphiroeae on the basis of its unique developmental pattern by which long-celled genicular tiers and short-celled intergenicular tiers alternate regularly, each mature geniculum being covered by a cortex produced by the intergeniculum distal to it. In the equally unique Amphiroa, by contrast, alternating groups of corticated tiers, some of which are short-celled and others long-celled, remain calcified to form intergenicula or become decalcified to form genicula. Haliptilon is shown to be the correct spelling and to date as a generic name from 1846 (Lindley). Haliptilon cuvieri (Lamouroux) comb. nov. is designated lectotype.