Chondrus Stackhouse, 1797: xv, xxiv

Classification:
Empire Eukaryota
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Rhodophyta
Subphylum Eurhodophytina
Class Florideophyceae
Subclass Rhodymeniophycidae
Order Gigartinales
Family Gigartinaceae

Lectotype species: Chondrus crispus Stackhouse

Original publication:Stackhouse, J. (1797). Nereis britannica; continens species omnes fucorum in insulis britannicis crescentium: descriptione latine et anglico, necnon iconibus ad vivum depictis... Fasc. 2. pp. ix-xxiv, 31-70, pls IX-XIII. Bathoniae [Bath] & Londini [London]: S. Hazard; J. White.
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Type designated inStackhouse, J. (1802 '1801'). Nereis britannica; continens species omnes fucorum in insulis britannicis crescentium: descriptione latine et anglico, necnon iconibus ad vivum depictis... Fasc. 3. pp. xxv-xl, 71-112, 1-4, 1-3, pls XIII-XVII, A-G. Bathoniae [Bath] & Londini [London]: S. Hazard; J. White.
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Taxonomic status: currently recognized as a distinct genus.

Description: Plants can exceed 20 cm in length and are erect from a discoid base, compressed to flattened, subdichotomously branched, and beset with varying numbers of marginal proliferations. Cystocarps are embedded and aggregated distally or confined to proliferations (Segawa 1941). Cystocarps lack a surrounding filamentous hull, the major generic defining character of Chondrus. Male plants are often said to be extremely rare, but are reported by Tveter Gallagher et al. (1980) to occur in normally expected proportions in at least some populations of the most commerically valuable species, C. crispus. Lazo et al. (1989) found that sporophytic and gametophytic generations are about equally present in subtidal populations in eastern Canada, although stochastic events may operate to give large imbalances at given times. Tetrasporangia occur in branched chains formed laterally on cells of the inner cortex.

Comments: The economic importance of this genus currently in eastern Canada and France, and formerly in Britain and Ireland has resulted in major studies of its biology (e.g. Harvey and McLachlan 1973; McLachlan et al. 1988; McLachlan et al. 1989), demography (Bhattacharya 1985, and ecology (Mathieson and Prince 1973; Mathieson and Burns 1975; Mathieson and Tveter 1975). Upper limits of temperature tolerance are experimentally established for the European and 3 Japanese species by Luning et al. (1986), who speculate on the geographical origin and distribution of C. crispus as a result of Cretaceous and Paleocene geological events. Much emphasis has been devoted to its cultivation in outdoor tanks as raw material for commercial utilization (Chen and Taylor 1978; Simpson and Shacklock 1979; Shacklock and Croft 1981; Bidwell et al. 1985). Chen et al. (1982) kept sterile tetrasporophytes viable for 6 years, showing its potential as a cultivated lambda carrageenan source, and Shacklock and Craigie (1986) demonstrate the feasibility of keeping culture stocks viable in tank culture throughout high-latitude winters. Bidwell et al. (1984, 1985) devised and tested outdoor tank methods generally applicable to Chondrus culture both within and outside of its native range, but conclude that world prices do not allow economically viable cultivation in eastern Canada where the largest natural populations are found. Plants of C. crispus seem particularly succeptible to colonization by endophytes, which have received detailed study (Correa et al. 1987, 1988). Distribution: The type species occurs in the north Atlantic from New Jersey in the west to Spain and possibly Morocco and the Cape Verde Islands in the east (Dixon and Irvine 1977), as well as Japan. It is almost exclusively restricted to rock and ranges from intertidal to 24 m depths, being also tolerant of lowered salinities. McLachlan et al. (1989) characterize it as the most common red alga in the flora of Maritime Canada and the most abundant seaweed in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Besides the type, Mikami (1965) reports 6 additional species from Japan.

Common names

(as Chondrus)
Portuguese: Botelha (Oliveira, 1990).

NCBI Nucleotide Sequences

Numbers of names and species: There are 174 species (and infraspecific) names in the database at present, of which 12 have been flagged as currently accepted taxonomically.

Names: ('C' indicates a name that is currently accepted taxonomically; 'S' a homotypic or heterotypic synonym; 'U' indicates a name of uncertain taxonomic status, but which has been subjected to some verification nomenclaturally; 'P' indicates a preliminary AlgaeBase entry that has not been subjected to any kind of verification. For more information on a species click on it to activate a link to the Species database):

References
Hommersand, M.H., Guiry, M.D., Fredericq, S. & Leister, G.L. (1993). New perspectives in the taxonomy of the Gigartinaceae (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta). Proceedings of the International Seaweed Symposium 14: 105-120, 41 figs.

Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in CD format. These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above. The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.

Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.

Linking to this page: http://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=2

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 18 June 2013.

Algaebase taxon LSID: urn:lsid:algaebase.org:taxname:8438