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Udotea geppiorum is reported to form meadows in deep-water, soft sediment habitats in the Main Hawaiian Islands. The identification of the species, initially published as U. argentea in the archipelago, is revised and confirmed based on morphological assessment and comparative DNA sequencing with western Pacific specimens. Udotea geppiorum is fully corticated and newly shown to display discrete concentric segments arranged in a 'tongue and groove' manner, which are connected by medullary siphons running along the entire segment interface. Udotea geppiorum is phylogenetically nested among a cluster of Udotea spp. recently circumscribed within Udotea sensu stricto. This cluster of species is separate from the remainder of the family Udoteaceae, which includes several genera and Udotea spp. sensu lato that lack or exhibit incomplete cortication. Based on field observations conducted in O'ahu and Maui, U. geppiorum can be found from 20 m to > 90 m depth with a peak in abundance at mesophotic depths of 60–85 m, where it forms extensive meadows that support associated diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gelatinous, calciferous red alga Renouxia antillana was described in 1995 based on material from Guadeloupe, French West Indies, and accommodated in a new family and order (Rhodogorgonaceae, Rhodogorgonales) along with the genus Rhodogorgon from Belize and Caribbean Panama. For more than 20 years, Renouxia has remained monotypic, with rare reports in the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific (from Réunion Island to French Polynesia). DNA-based analyses of recently collected Renouxia specimens from Egypt showed that they are not conspecific with the Caribbean R. antillana and are described as R. marerubra sp. nov. Uncorrected p-distances between the Red Sea specimens and the generitype were 8.0% for COI, 6.5-7.3% for rbcL and 3.1% for UPA. Morphological and anatomical features are also presented for the newly described species and compared to its congener, with the first documented report of monoecism in the Rhodogorgonales. Besides the new record of Renouxia from the Red Sea, the geographic distribution of the genus is here extended with additional records from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, as well as the islands of Guam and Kosrae in the Western Pacific. The UPA phylogeny suggests that these new distribution records may also represent undescribed species, with representatives in two distinct genetic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological and molecular evidence is provided to further document the status of the enigmatic taxon known asCaulerpa floridanaW.R. Taylor from White Shoal, Dry Tortugas, Florida. DNA sequencing of three historical herbarium specimens (WRT329, WRT345 and WRT349) housed at the University of Michigan Herbarium (MICH) demonstrated the molecular separation of this species based on the reconstruction of 931 nucleotides of the chloroplast genetufA.Caulerpa floridanais sister to the western Atlantic endemicC. ashmeadiiHarvey and an unknownCaulerpataxon from the Florida Middle Grounds.Caulerpa floridanamost reliably differs fromC. ashmeadiiby the presence of a sharp, unequivocal apiculus at the tip of each pinnule. A morphological review of southwestern Atlantic records ofC. floridanafrom Brazil excludes these reports as representative of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]