Caulerpa cupressoides (Vahl) C. Agardh, 1817

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 : 2980-2981

Caulerpa cupressoides (Vahl) C. Agardh, 1817 : XXIII var. cupressoides

Note. See note on C. cupressoides var. lycopodium f. disticha.

* Caulerpa cupressoides (Vahl) C. Agardh var. lycopodium Weber-van Bosse

f. disticha Weber-van Bosse, 1898: 327, 338, pl. 27, figure 14 References: Coppejans and Beeckman, 1990: 112–114, figures 3–7 ; Coppejans, 1992: 389, figure 1b (~ecad lycopodium-disticha); Coppejans and Prud’homme van Reine, 1992: 673, figures 2C, D , 10A, B (~ecad lycopodium-disticha); Payri et al., 2000: 90, figure p. 91.

Syntype localities. Guadeloupe , West Indies ; Florida, USA .

Vouchers. HEC 14625b; 21 September 2001 , HEC 14737, HEC 14738, 18 September 2001, western part of Cotton Bay (s.s. 13) ; HEC 14692 (zS), 20 September 2001, Rivière Banane (s.s. 12) ; HEC 14770, 25 September 2001, Passe Grand Bassin (s.s. 2) ; HEC 14834 (zS), 27 September 2001, Baie de l’Hermitage (s.s. 22) ; HEC 14882, 1 October 2001, Totor (s.s. 9) .

Ecology. On silty-sandy bottom of intertidal pools as well as in shallow subtidal.

Distribution. India, Rodrigues (this paper), Tanzania.

Note. Caulerpa cupressoides var. cupressoides , with the typical three vertical rows of spiny branchlets along the whole rachis of the assimilators, has not been observed on Rodrigues. The majority of the specimens belong to var. lycopodium , with two opposite rows of these branchlets. One collection contains assimilators that have opposite rows of branchlets in the basal part of the assimilators and three rows higher up. This phenomenon has been reported previously ( Coppejans and Prud’homme van Reine, 1992: 676, figure 2B ) and casts doubt on the varietal value. The specimens close to the reef crest have shorter assimilators that are stiff, creamy green, sometimes with a somewhat recurved rachis. Those from sheltered areas are longer and more supple, of very different width. The rachis of the assimilators is generally unbranched, but repeatedly dichotomously branched specimens have also been collected. In one collection (HEC 14738), the rachis is more compressed (and wider), tending to C. lessonii Bory de Saint- Vincent ( Coppejans and Prud’homme van Reine, 1992: 692, figure 5 ). Yet another collection (HEC 14882) is extremely thin and elegant, with relatively short branchlets. The latter character excludes its attribution to var. lycopodium f. elegans.

Figures

FIGS 14–18. Caulerpa. (14) Caulerpa cupressoides var. lycopodium f. elegans, small, elegant specimen (HEC 14691). (15) Caulerpa cupressoides var. lycopodium f. elegans, coarse specimen with richly branched assimilators (HEC 14820). (16) Caulerpa sertularioides f. sertularioides, last order branchlets in a single plane (HEC 14739). (17) Caulerpa sertularioides f. farlowii, last order branchlets in several planes (HEC 14690). (18) Caulerpa webbiana (HEC 14699). Scale bars: 1 cm.

FIGS 2–6. Chlorophyta. (2) Microdictyon tenuius, detail of branching and anastomosing patterns (HEC 14849). (3) Bryopsis pennata var. pennata, branchlets of last order contiguous and in a single plane (HEC 14796 p.p.). (4) Bryopsis pennata var. leprieurii, branchlets of last order interrupted and in a single plane (HEC 14757).(5) Bryopsis pennata var. secunda, branchlets of last order curved in one direction (HEC 14796 p.p.). (6) Chamaedoris delphinii (HEC 14617). Scale bars: 250 mm (2); 5 mm (3–5); 1 cm (6).

FIGS 7–13. Caulerpa brachypus, variation in the general morphology and margin structure of the assimilators. (7) Large growth form collected in grooves between bumps of coral rubble, frequently branching and with secondary stolons (HEC 14867). (8) Intermediately large growth form with wide assimilators (HEC 14769). (9) Intermediately large growth form with relatively narrow assimilators (HEC 14656a). (10) Typical specimen with simple or scarcely branched assimilators (HEC 14612). (11) Assimilator with smooth margin (HEC 14612). (12) Assimilator with coarsely dentate margin (HEC 14656a). (13) Assimilator with densely dentate margin (HEC 14718). Scale bars: 2 cm (7–10); 1 mm (11–13).

FIG. 1. Sampling stations. See table 1 for a list of the stations and their GPS coordinates. Map redrawn from Wells (1988). The outer grey line represents the fringing reef.