Cheilosporum (Decaisne) Zanardini, 1844

Holotype species: Cheilosporum sagittatum (J.V.Lamouroux) Areschoug

Currently accepted name for the type species: Jania sagittata (J.V.Lamouroux) Blainville

Original publication and holotype designation: Zanardini, G. (1844). Rivista critica delle Corallinee (o Polypai calciferi di Lamouroux). Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 3: 186-188.

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Description: Thalli comprising crustose holdfasts of limited size, often replaced by stolons, and dichotomously branched fronds consisting of calcified intergenicula and uncalcified genicula. Intergenicula sagittate and prominently bilobed, the lobes acute or obtuse and extending laterally to distally. Intergenicula of arching tiers of medullary cells surrounded by a photosynthetic cortex and a unistratose layer of epithallial cells. Cells in contiguous filaments often fusing; secondary pit-connections lacking. Genicula of single tiers of long, straight, unbranched cells uncalcified except where they project into neighboring intergenicula. Trichocytes unknown, but probably similar to those in Jania. Reproductive cells forming within conceptacles originating on intergenicular margins near branch apices (marginal conceptacles). 1-2 (3) conceptacles in each fertile lobe; pores usually opening on adaxial surfaces of lobes. Conceptacles lacking surmounting branches. Details of reproduction similar to that in Jania.

Information kindly contributed by H.W. Johansen but may now be outdated.

Taxonomic status: This name is currently regarded as a synonym of Jania.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Kylin, H. (1956). Die Gattungen der Rhodophyceen. pp. i-xv, 1-673, 458 figs. Lund: C.W.K. Gleerups.

Comments: Although superficially unlike Jania and Haliptilon, the reproductive cells (but not conceptacle position) reveal the close relationship between Cheilosporum and these two genera. Cultures reveal the regenerative capacity of fronds and enhanced growth in media containing low amounts of phosphate. Cheilosporum is tropical and subtropical, occurring on many Pacific islands, southern Japan, India, Brazil, and coasts in the Southern Hemisphere. It is notably absent from the western coast of North America and the Mediterranean Sea.

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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Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in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.

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Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 11 October 2010. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 18 April 2024