Ceramium polyceras (Kützing) Zanardini 1847

Publication Details
Ceramium polyceras (Kützing) Zanardini 1847: 223

Published in: Zanardini, G. (1847). Notizie intorno alle cellulari marine delle lagune e de'litorali di Venezia (I). Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 6: 185-262, 1 plate.

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Publication date: March 1847

Type Species
The type species (lectotype) of the genus Ceramium is Ceramium virgatum Roth.

Status of Name
This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Basionym
Hormoceras polyceras Kützing

Type Information
Type locality: adriat. bei Spalato; (INA 1996)

General Environment
This is a marine species.

Created: 13 March 2006 by M.D. Guiry.

Last updated: 10 November 2023

Verification of Data
Users are responsible for verifying the accuracy of information before use, as noted on the website Content page.

Taxonomic note
"The basionym of this species (Hormoceras polyceras Kützing) was described by Kützing (1842: 732) on the basis of some specimens collected in Split (Croatia); at the same time, on the basis of other specimens from Venice (Italy) and sent to him by Martens, Kützing (op. cit.) described the following infraspecific taxon: H. polyceras var. majus Kützing. Zanardini (1847: 223), with reference to the Venetian specimens, proposed the new combination: C. polyceras (Kützing) Zanardini including de facto also the aforementioned var. majus. However, Kützing (1862: 20, pl. 66/a-e) ignored Zanardini's combination and illustrated H. polyceras in his Tabulae Phycologicae; he also published, without description, but giving two figures (Kützing, 1862: 20, pl. 66 / f-g), the following new infraspecific taxon H. polyceras var. proliferum Kützing, reporting it from Trieste (Italy). H. polyceras was listed by Ardissone (1883: 101) among the synonyms of C. elegans, while Hauck (1882: 107) and De Toni (1903: 1485) listed it among the synonyms of C. strictum Greville et Harvey [nomen nudum]. Afterwards, this species was no longer reported. Recently, following a research on species of Ceramium from the Venice Lagoon (Italy) based on the molecular analysis of the rbcL gene, C. polyceras was resurrected and reproposed as a distinct species [Wolf et al., 2011: 1586 (as clade A) and 1590]. It should be noted that the aforementioned infraspecific taxon H. polyceras var. proliferum, on the basis of traditional synonymies, had been considered by Furnari et al. (1999: 18) as a synonym of C. deslongchampsii. However, due to the resurrection of C. polyceras, that among other things, is also characterized by the occurrence of abundant adventitious branches (a character illustrated by Kützing supporting the epithet of its variety), we here consider this infraspecific taxon as a synonym of C. polyceras. Finally, it should be noted that Wolf et al. (2011: 1590) with explicit reference to Kützing (1863: tab. 1/a-b) wrongly state that: "... Kützing's illustration show that cystocarps of Hormocers acrocarpum are always terminal and not surrounded by involucral branches, whereas...". In fact, what Kützing (op. cit.) describes in the diagnosis "...apex fructiferum; tetrachocarpiis in glomerulis terminalibus majoribus globosis, saepe confluen-tibus;..." and illustrates in detail in table 1/b , are not cystocarps but masses of paraspores (indicated as "...tetraspores in terminal glomerules") whose origins and functions are very different from those of the carpospores produced in the cystocarps (see Feldmann-Mazoyer, 1941: 224, fig. 87). Therefore, the reason why Wolf et al. (op. cit.) have excluded Kützing's species from the comparison with the Venetian thalli, later referred to as to C. polyceras, is based on an obvious mistake of interpretation." (Cormaci & al. 2023: 214-5). - (10 November 2023) - M.D. Guiry

Habitat note
Growing on algae (e.g., Cystoseira sp.) and mussels (e.g., Mytilus edulis) (Wolf et al. 2011). - (06 February 2012) - G.M. Guiry

Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=112551

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 10 November 2023. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 14 June 2025