Assessment of Rhodolith Diversity in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Including the Description of Sporolithon gracile sp. nov. (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), and Three New Species of Roseolithon (Hapalidiales, Rhodophyta)

Type Article
Date 2022-07
Language English
Author(s) Richards Joseph1, Kittle Ronald P.1, Schmidt William E.1, Sauvage Thomas2, 3, Gurgel Carlos F. D.4, Gabriel Daniela5, Fredericq Suzanne1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, United States
2 : Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
3 : Ifremer, Centre Atlantique Ecosystèmes Microbiens et Molécules Marines pour les Biotechnologies (EM3B) Laboratory, Rue de l’Île d’Yeu, Nantes, France
4 : Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
5 : School of Science and Technology (FCT), Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO), University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Source Frontiers In Marine Science (2296-7745) (Frontiers Media SA), 2022-07 , Vol. 9 , P. 906679 (14p.)
DOI 10.3389/fmars.2022.906679
WOS© Times Cited 3
Keyword(s) CCA, coralline algae, FGBNMS, Gulf of Mexico, mesophotic, rhodoliths
Abstract

In the past, non-geniculate coralline algae in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico have been identified based primarily on comparative morpho-anatomy. Recent studies employing DNA sequencing techniques combined with morpho-anatomical studies using SEM have revealed a wealth of previously undocumented diversity of rhodolith-forming non-geniculate coralline algae in the Corallinales, Hapalidiales and Sporolithales from mesophotic hard bank communities at 45-90 meters depth. Although many advances in the last decade have been made in clarifying species names and describing new species of corallines from offshore Louisiana and Texas, total diversity estimates are still incomplete and many species remain to be described. Collections from offshore Louisiana at Parker Bank in the newly expanded Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary yielded thin, finely branched rhodoliths. DNA sequence analyses of plastid-encoded psbA and rbcL loci, and nuclear-encoded LSU rDNA of these rhodolith-forming specimens revealed that some belong to an unnamed species of Sporolithon (Sporolithales) that we herein newly describe. Additionally, comparative DNA sequence analyses of rhodolith collections from Ewing Bank and other hard banks offshore Louisiana were conducted to assess rhodolith diversity in these mesophotic communities. The results revealed new reports of taxa for the region, including new rhodolith-forming species of Roseolithon (Hapalidiales) to be described herein as well. Our new biodiversity findings will be compared with historical studies from the NW Gulf of Mexico.

Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 14 8 MB Open access
GenBank numbers and reference information for newly generated sequences and sequences downloaded from GenBank of taxa included in phylogenetic analyses... 58 KB Open access
Supplementary Table 2 | Divergence values of psbA sequences for Sporolithon spp. 27 KB Open access
Supplementary Table 3 | Divergence values of rbcL sequences for Sporolithon spp. 26 KB Open access
Supplementary Table 4 | Divergence values of psbA sequences for Roseolithon spp. 31 KB Open access
Supplementary Table 5 | Divergence values of rbcL sequences (366 bp) for Roseolithon spp. 27 KB Open access
Supplementary Table 6 | Divergence values of rbcL sequences (623 bp) for Roseolithon spp. 27 KB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

Richards Joseph, Kittle Ronald P., Schmidt William E., Sauvage Thomas, Gurgel Carlos F. D., Gabriel Daniela, Fredericq Suzanne (2022). Assessment of Rhodolith Diversity in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Including the Description of Sporolithon gracile sp. nov. (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), and Three New Species of Roseolithon (Hapalidiales, Rhodophyta). Frontiers In Marine Science, 9, 906679 (14p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.906679 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00781/89286/