Balliopsis sp.

Ganesan, E. K., West, John A. & Jr, Orlando Necchi, 2018, A catalogue and bibliography of non-marine (freshwater and estuarine) Rhodophyta (red algae) of India, Phytotaxa 364 (1), pp. 1-48 : 14

Balliopsis sp.

Chaugule 2004, p. 68 (as ‘ Ballia ’ sp.)

Distribution in India: Maharashtra (Western Ghats, near Dapoli in the river Kadjai at many sites).

Notes: A genus with two species only, Balliopsis has a wide, but discontinuous global distribution: in South America ( Guyana, Brazil, Belize and Costa Rica) and in Asia ( Thailand and Malaysia) ( Necchi & Zucchi 1995; Guriy & Guiry 2017). Hence, the Indian record as “ Ballia ” sp. from “many sites” of a river in the Biodiversity Hotspot of the Western Ghats ( Chaugule 2004) is notable, but critical morphological details are unknown. Additionally, the generic status of Balliopsis is also doubtful ( Entwisle et al. 2009; Johnston et al. 2014; Necchi 2016). The uniseriate pinnately branched thalli with only monosporangia of Balliopsis spp. may be the ‘ Chantransia ’ stage or the early gametophyte phase in the life history of a batrachospermalean taxon.