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Abstract:The current identification of crustose coralline algae from North Carolina is based on a few morphoanatomical studies from the last century. We reassessed the type specimens of the two Lithophyllumspecies historically reported from offshore communities in North Carolina, L. intermediumwith a Caribbean Sea type locality and L. subtenellumwith an Atlantic southern France type locality, using scanning electron microscopy images and diagnostic rbcL sequences. Neither of the sequences generated from the type specimens matched rbcL sequences from contemporary specimens collected from subtidal North Carolina epibenthic communities. On the basis of analyses of rbcL and other loci (psbA, UPA, and COI), we instead found L. atlanticum, recently described from Brazil, and L. searlesii sp. nov. from Onslow Bay, North Carolina. These sequence data show that L. atlanticumis related to northeast Pacific species, whereas L. searlesiiis related to Mediterranean species.