Cladophora coelothrix Kützing, 1843: 272

Coppejans, Eric, Leliaert, Frederik, Verbruggen, Heroen, de Clerck, Olivier, Schils, Tom, de Vriese, Thomas & Marie, Daniel, 2004, The marine green and brown algae of Rodrigues (Mauritius, Indian Ocean), Journal of Natural History 38 (23), pp. 2959-3020 : 2969-2970

* Cladophora coelothrix Kützing, 1843: 272

References: van den Hoek, 1982: 47–52, figures 11–29; Børgesen, 1939: 72–73,

figure 15; Sartoni, 1992: 300, figure 5B; Leliaert and Coppejans, 2003: 50,

figure 2.

Type locality. Golfo di Genova, Italy.

Vouchers. HEC 14620 , HEC 14630 , 18 September 2001, western part of Cotton Bay (s.s. 13) .

Ecology. Epiphytic on Digenea simplex and Gelidiopsis on vertical walls of intertidal pools.

Distribution. Australia, Chagos Archipelago (Egmont Atoll), Christmas Island, India, Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan, Rodrigues (this paper), Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Somalia.

Note. Cladophora coelothrix is very similar to C. socialis Kützing , but the cell diameter of the former is about twice as large (55–140 mm) as that of the

latter (25–55 mm).

* Cladophora vagabunda (Linnaeus) van den Hoek, 1963: 144 References: van den Hoek, 1963: 144–148, pls 33, 36–38; 1982: 137–150, figures 264–294; Jaasund, 1976: 7, figures 15, 16; Sartoni, 1992: 304, figure 6C– E; Kraft, 2000: 562, figure 21; Littler and Littler, 2000: 324, figure p. 325;

Leliaert and Coppejans, 2003: 70–71, figures 14A, B, 15.

Lectotype locality. Selsey , Sussex, England, UK. Vouchers. HEC 14783 a (zF), HEC 14783 b, HEC 14784 a (zF), HEC

14784b, 25 September 2001, Passe Grand Bassin (s.s. 30); HEC 14861 , 30

September 2001, south-western part of the lagoon (s.s. 27).

Ecology. Epilithic on coral rubble in the intertidal and the infralittoral fringe.

Distribution. Australia, India, Indonesia (Sunda Strait), Kenya, Laccadives, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius ( Børgesen, 1940: 34–35, figure 10; 1946: 21–24, figures 8a, b, 9, 10), Nicobar Islands, Pakistan, Rodrigues (this paper), Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Yemen.

Note. Cladophora vagabunda has frequently been mentioned as C. mauritiana Kützing. The latter species has been synonymized with the former by Børgesen (1940: 35). This species is closely related to C. dalmatica Kützing and C. laetevirens (Dillwyn) Kützing. Distinction between both is based on cell dimensions and the maximum number of laterals per cell.

General remarks on the distribution of Cladophora in the Mascarene Islands (see table 2)

Twelve Cladophora species have previously been recorded in the Mascarene Islands (11 from Mauritius, two for Réunion and none for Rodrigues) ( table 2). Of these, three species ( C. albida , C. echinus and C. sericea ) are doubtful records since their distribution pattern would normally be restricted to temperate regions. Two other species ( C. patentiramea and C. saviniana ) are most likely conspecific with C. coelothrix (based on the original descriptions and illustrations) while C. inserta is probably a missapplied name for either C. vagabunda or C. dalmatica .

Only two species were collected from Rodrigues. C. vagabunda has been recorded from both Rodrigues and Mauritius; C. coelothrix had only been reported from Mauritius (as C. patentiramea ).