Proceedings of the Second Mediterranean Symposium on Marine

NEW RECORDS ALONG THE APULIAN COASTS
Antonella BOTTALICO, Costanza Ilaria DELLE FOGLIE and Cesira PERRONE
Department <strong>of</strong> Biology and Plant Pathology, University <strong>of</strong> Bari Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, ITALY
ABSTRACT
The following new records from Apulia are reported: Halarachnion ligulatum
(Gigartinales, Rhodophyta), Gelidiella sp. (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta) and Batophora sp.
(Dasycladales, Chlorophyta). The first record extends <strong>the</strong> distribution area <strong>of</strong> H. ligulatum
to <strong>the</strong> south <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Adriatic Sea, where it was only known from <strong>the</strong> Gulf <strong>of</strong> Trieste. The
attribution <strong>of</strong> Gelidiella sp. to an undescribed taxon is supported by a long-term study.
The occurrence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tropical genus Batophora, previously recorded only from <strong>the</strong>
Caribbean area and from <strong>the</strong> Canary Islands, is reported for <strong>the</strong> first time in <strong>the</strong>
<strong>Mediterranean</strong>.
KEY WORDS: Halarachnion, Gelidiella, Batophora, Apulia, <strong>Mediterranean</strong>.
INTRODUCTION
During collection campaigns in some uninvestigated Apulian coastal areas (Adriatic and
Ionian), aimed at enriching <strong>the</strong> seaweed collection <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> Biology and
Plant Pathology (University <strong>of</strong> Bari, Italy), <strong>the</strong> following new records were found:
Halarachnion ligulatum (Woodward) Kützing and two taxa belonging to Gelidiella
Feldmann et Hamel and Batophora J. Agardh.
The finding <strong>of</strong> H. ligulatum, not reported in Apulia in <strong>the</strong> recent catalogue <strong>of</strong>
macrophytobenthos <strong>of</strong> Italian coasts (Furnari et al., 2003) represents <strong>the</strong> first record for
this region and for <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn Adriatic Sea.
Along <strong>the</strong> same coast in 1999 Lapenna and Perrone reported an undescribed species
presumably belonging to Gelidiella. All <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mediterranean</strong> representatives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> genus
Gelidiella have been reported from Apulia, that is G. antipae Celan, G. lubrica (Kützing)
Feldmann et Hamel, G. nigrescens (Feldmann) Feldmann et Hamel, G. ramellosa (Kützing)
Feldmann et Hamel and G. tenuissima Feldmann et Hamel (Furnari et al., 2003).
The genus Batophora is currently represented by two species, B. oerstedii J. Agardh and
B. occidentalis (Harv.) S. Berger et Kaever ex M. J. Wynne. They live toge<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong>
Caribbean region and only recently <strong>the</strong>y have also been reported in <strong>the</strong> central eastern
Atlantic Ocean (Canary Islands) (Haroun et al., 2002). Therefore our record is <strong>the</strong> first
for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mediterranean</strong> basin.
ACTES DU DEUXIEME SYMPOSIUM MEDITERRANEEN SUR LA VEGETATION MARINE (ATHENES, 12-13 DECEMBRE 2003)
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