Gymnogongrus C.Martius, 1833

Holotype species: Gymnogongrus griffithsiae (Turner) C.Martius

Original publication and holotype designation: Martius, C.F.P. von (1833). Flora brasiliensis, seu, enumeratio plantarum in Brasilia: tam sua sponte quam accedente cultura provenientium, quas in itinere auspiciis Maximiliani Josephi I. Bavariae Regis annis 1817-1820 peracto collegit, partim descripsit; alias a Maximiliano Seren. Principe Widensi, sellovio aliisque advectas addidit, communibus amicorum propriisque studiis secundum methodum naturalem dispositas et illustratas. Vol. I. Pars prior. Algae, lichenes, hepaticae exposuerunt Martius. Eschweilfr [sic]. Nees ab Esenbeck. pp. [i]-iv, [1]-390. Stuttgartiae & Tubingae [Stuttgart & Tübingen]: sumptibus J.G. Cottae.

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Description: Plants of the largest species reach 25 cm in length and occur singly or in dense aggregates from extensive (to 40 cm diam.) crustose bases. Gametophytes are erect, generally compressed, dichotomous, and either lack or have varying numbers of proliferous marginal laterals.  The pseudoparenchymatous medulla is a mixture of densely compacted large and small cells. Carpogonial branches bear a 1-2-celled sterile branch and cystocarps have multiple ostioles in Japanese species (Masuda 1987). Gametophyte and carposporophyte anatomy has been studied by Schotter (1968). Tetrasporangia are either unknown altogether, occur as "tetrasporoblastic" nemathecia on gametophytes, or appear as Erythrodermis-type diminutive crusts. McCandless and Vollmer (1984) examined gametophytes of a Californian representative on which pustular nemathecia of catenate tetrasporangia are produced and found that the sporangial and spore walls contained different fractions of carrageenan (lambda and kappa, respectively), implying that the "carpotetrasporangia" are a result of meiosis.

Information contributed by: G.T. Kraft. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2017-01-23 by M.D. Guiry.

Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Gender: This genus name is currently treated as masculine.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Schneider, C.W. & Wynne, M.J. (2007). A synoptic review of the classification of red algal genera a half a century after Kylin's "Die Gattungen der Rhodophyceen". Botanica Marina 50: 197-249.

Comments: Distribution: The type species is distributed on both sides of the Atlantic from Massachussetts to Uruguay in the west and from the British Isles to the Canary Isles and the Mediterranean in the east. The genus as a whole appeas centred in cool to cold-temperate waters of both hemispheres (Ricker 1987), although apparently valid species also occur in the decidedly tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea (Taylor 1971) and Viet Nam (Dawson 1954).

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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.

Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=15

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 23 January 2017. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 29 March 2024

 
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