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SUBFAMILY LITHOPHYLLOIDEAE Setchell 1943: 134 (as `Lithophylleae')

Phylum Rhodophyta – Class Florideophyceae – Order Corallinales – Family Corallinaceae

Thallus encrusting to warty, lumpy, fruticose, discoid, layered, ribbon like or foliose; prostrate to erect; partially endophytic, epigenous, or unattached and free-living as rhodoliths; genicula absent. Structure pseudoparenchymatous with monomerous or dimerous construction or both; cells of adjacent filaments joined by secondary pit-connections; cell-fusions absent or rare.

Reproduction: Vegetative reproduction by thallus fragmentation. Gametangia, tetrasporangia and bisporangia borne in uniporate conceptacles.

Gametangial thalli monoecious or dioecious; carpogonia and spermatangia produced in separate conceptacles or rarely in the same conceptacle. Carpogonial filaments mostly 2- or 3-celled, arising from the female conceptacle chamber floor. Carposporophytes developing within female conceptacles after karyogamy, composed of carposporangia terminating short gonimoblast filaments that arise from a central fusion cell. Spermatangial filaments unbranched, confined to the male conceptacle chamber floor.

Tetrasporangia and bisporangia borne on separate thalli from gametangia and carposporangia, lacking apical plugs, tetrasporangia each containing four zonately arranged spores, bisporangia each containing two bispores. Conceptacle roofs formed from filaments interspersed amongst and peripheral to developing sporangia or only from filaments peripheral to developing sporangia.

Type genus: Lithophyllum Philippi 1837: 387.

Taxonomic notes: The Lithophylloideae (see Woelkerling 1988, Campbell & Woelkerling 1990, Woelkerling & Campbell 1992) includes three genera: Ezo, known only from Japan; Tenarea, known only from the eastern Mediterranean; and Lithophyllum, which is widespread. Titanoderma, recognised by Chamberlain (1991) and Chamberlain & Irvine (1994b), is considered to be a heterotypic synonym of Lithophyllum for reasons outlined by Campbell & Woelkerling (1990), Woelkerling & Campbell (1992, pp. 17–18), John et al. (1994, pp. 59–60), and Braga & Aguirre (1995, p. 271).

References:

BRAGA, J.C. & AGUIRRE, J. (1995). Taxonomy of fossil coralline algal species: Neogene Lithophylloideae (Rhodophyta, Corallinaceae) from southern Spain. Revue Palaobotanique et Palynologique 86, 265–285.

CAMPBELL, S.J. & WOELKERLING, W.J. (1990). Are Titanoderma and Lithophyllum (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta) distinct genera? Phycologia 29, 114–125.

CHAMBERLAIN, Y.M. & IRVINE, L.M. (1994b). Lithophylloideae Setchell. In Irvine, L. M. & Chamberlain, Y. M. (Eds), Seaweeds of the British Isles. Volume 1 Rhodophyta Part 2B Corallinales, Hildenbrandiales pp. 58–112. (HMSO: London.)

CHAMBERLAIN, Y.M. (1991). Historical and taxonomic studies in the genus Titanoderma (Rhodophyta, Corallinales) in the British Isles. Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Bot.) 21, 1–80.

JOHN, D.M., LAWSON, G.W., PRICE, J.H., PRUD'HOMME VAN REINE, W.F. & WOELKERLING, W.J. (1994). Seaweeds of the western coast of tropical Africa and adjacent islands: a critical assessment. IV. Rhodophyta (Florideae) 4. Genera L-0. Bull. nat. Hist. Mus. Lond., Bot. Ser. 24, 49–90.

PHILIPPI, R. (1837). Beweis dass die Nulliporen Pflanzen sind. Arh. Naturgesch. 3, 387–393, Plate 9 figs 2–6.

SETCHELL, W.A. (1943). Mastophora and the Mastophoreae: Genus and subfamily of Corallinaceae. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. Washington 29, 127–135.

WOELKERLING, W.J. & CAMPBELL, S.J. (1992). An account of southern Australian species of Lithophyllum (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta). Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 22, 1–107.

WOELKERLING, Wm.J. (1988). The Coralline Red Algae. [British Museum (N.H.): London.]

The Marine Benthic Flora of Southern Australia Part IIIB complete list of references.

Author: Non-geniculate taxa by W.J. Woelkerling (with contributions by A.S Harvey & D.L. Penrose). Geniculate taxa by H.B.S. Womersley & H.W. Johansen.

Publication: Womersley, H.B.S. (28 June, 1996)
The Marine Benthic Flora of Southern Australia
Rhodophyta. Part IIIB. Gracilarialse, Rhodymeniales, Corallinales and Bonnemaisoniales
Reproduced with permission from The Marine Benthic Flora of Southern Australia Part IIIB 1996, by H.B.S. Womersley. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Copyright Commonwealth of Australia.


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