Seaweeds of the Spermonde Archipelago, SW Sulawesi, Indonesia

Seaweeds are important components of tropical reef systems. The present paper deals with the Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and noncoralline Rhodophyta collected by the first author in the Spermonde Archipelago, SW Sulawesi, Indonesia, during the Buginesia-III project (November 1988-November 1990). Additional collections from this area by Keblusek (July 1991-October 1991) were also studied and the results are incorporated in the present paper. The results of the present study are compared with those of the Siboga Expedition (1899-1900), of the Danish Expedition to the Kei Islands (1914-1916), and of the Snellius-II Expedition (1985). In total, 199 taxa (80 Chlorophyta belonging to 21 genera, 36 taxa of Phaeophyta belonging to 11 genera, 83 noncoralline Rhodophyta belonging to 40 genera, and about 35 taxa of coralline algae) were collected. Of these, 72 taxa are new records for Indonesia (17 Chlorophyta, 20 Phaeophyta, and 35 noncoralline Rhodophyta). Caulerpa buginense and Udotea flabellum f. longifolia are newly described. Keys to the genera, species, and forms are provided, and remarks on the economic potential of some of the seaweeds are included.