Rhodolith-forming species of Lithophyllum(Corallinales; Rhodophyta) from Espírito Santo State, Brazil, including the description of L. depressumsp. nov.

Villas-BoasA.B., Riosmena-RodriguezR., Amado-FilhoG.M., ManeveldtG.W. and deO. FigueiredoM.A. 2009. Rhodolith-forming species of Lithophyllum(Corallinales; Rhodophyta) from Espírito Santo State, Brazil, including the description of L. depressumsp. nov. Phycologia48: 237–248. DOI: 10.2216/08-35.1.The taxonomy of the rhodolith-forming species of Lithophyllum(Corallinales, Rhodophyta) found from Espirito Santo State, Brazil, were evaluated based on extensive subtidal sampling. A comparative analysis of the Brazilian material with recently described species lead us to conclude that three known species (Lithophyllum corallinae, L. johansenii, L. stictaeforme) and one species new to science (Lithophyllum depressumVillas-Boas, Figueiredo & Riosmena-Rodriguez) are present in the area. All four species can be distinguished primarily by their tetrasporangial conceptacle roof anatomy. This study has shown that Brazilian rhodolith beds are comparatively more diverse in number of Lithophyllumspecies than other areas of the world.