Volume 52, Issue 1

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Thirteen species of benthic marine algae are reported as new to the mid Atlantic Azores archipelago, and the status is confirmed for five other species. Some of the new records fall within their overall distributional range. The discovery of seven species ( Codium taylorii , Digenea simplex , Gelidiella tinerfensis , Gelidiopsis intricata , Laurencia microcladia , Papenfussiella kuromo , Phyllophora gelidioides ) represents a northern extension in their Atlantic distributional range. The archipelago is the western limit of Papenfussiella kuromo and Phyllophora gelidioides in the Atlantic Ocean. Ascophyllum nodosum , common as drift, was found for the first time attached to rocks on Graciosa Island and Caulerpa webbiana is confirmed as a recent immigrant to the archipelago. Four species are removed from the flora.

The red algal species Contarinia squamariae (Rhizophyllidaceae, Gigartinales) is newly reported from the European Atlantic coast off southern and southwestern Portugal. Tetrasporangiate, spermatangial, and female/cystocarpic specimens were found growing closely attached to Peyssonnelia squamaria , and a non-reproductive specimen was found attached to Sphaerococcus coronopifolius .

The northern Portuguese coast is a biogeographic transition zone where many macroalgal species have their distribution limits; it is thus a particularly interesting region for investigating species distribution shifts. An updated and complete list of species for this region is not available in spite of its baseline importance for comparative studies with past and present data. Based on new records, literature references, and herbarium data, we provide an updated checklist of the benthic marine algae of the northern Portuguese coast. This checklist includes 346 species: 26 Cyanobacteria, 200 Rhodophyta, 70 Ochrophyta, and 50 Chlorophyta. From these, 21 species are new records for the Portuguese coast ( Lyngbya aestuarii , Lyngbya semiplena , Microcoleus acutirostris , Myxosarcina gloeocapsoides , Aiolocolax pulchella , Antithamnion densum , Antithamnion villosum , Antithamnionella spirographidis , Dasya sessilis , Furcellaria lumbricalis , Neosiphonia harveyi , Porphyrostromium boryanum , Chorda filum , Dictyopteris ambigua , Sphacelaria rigidula , Undaria pinnatifida , Vaucheria coronata , Vaucheria velutina , Ulothrix implexa , Ulva scandinavica , and Umbraulva olivascens ) and 33 were recorded for the first time in the north of Portugal. Alien species have increased in number and extended their distribution range over the last 10 years in the study area. Distribution shifts of northern cold water species with southern distribution limit in the north of Portugal were not consistent among species.

The meso-macrotidal Nervión River estuary in northern Spain was sampled monthly from March to September 2002 and 2003 to study species composition and abundance of haptophytes in the phytoplankton. From natural samples and uni-algal cultures, 17 haptophyte species were identified using light and electron microscopy. The species were found across a wide range of temperatures and salinities. The most frequently occurring haptophytes in the estuary were species of the genus Chrysochromulina ; however, Isochrysis galbana reached highest abundances. Chrysochromulina lanceolata and Phaeocystis globosa were occasionally present at high abundances. Another bloom-forming species, Prymnesium parvum , was recorded only once. Of the genera identified, eight species belonged to Chrysochromulina , two to Prymnesium and the rest of the genera were represented by one species only. The majority of the species were recorded for the first time in the Cantabrian Sea and one of them for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean.

An undescribed species of tube-dwelling sigmoid diatoms, Gyrosigma orbitum sp. nov., was found in the surface sediments of a salt marsh in Peck's Cove, Bay of Fundy, Atlantic Canada. The specimens belong to the section Strigiles sensu H. Peragallo and they are characterized by very fine longitudinal striation (34–45 in 10 μm), isomorphic proximal raphe endings and two large oval pits within the central area. While recorded in adjacent tidal mudflats, this species reached its highest abundances in the salt marsh, particularly within the cordgrass Spartina patens where it occurred in association with other epipelic taxa, including Diploneis cf. smithii , Surirella spp., Gyrosigma limosum , Nitzschia epithemioides , N. ligowskii , N. sigma , and a number of small sigmoid Nitzschia species. Gyrosigma orbitum is found mainly at sites with high sediment temperature and water content, but a shallow anoxic layer.

A new species of a marine sand-dwelling dinoflagellate in the genus Sinophysis is described from South Brittany, France using both light and scanning electron microscopy. Cells of Sinophysis verruculosa sp. nov. are oval to subcircular, slightly bulging dorsally and flattened laterally, with no chloroplasts, ranging from 52.2 to 57.8 μm in length, and 43.2 to 51.0 μm in width. The epitheca is small and tilted back to the dorsal part of the cell. At least three major plates and smaller platelets form the epitheca, but the exact number cannot be ascertained due to their reduced size and the presence of a projection hiding the sutures. Four cingular and four hypothecal plates, two large lateral and two small ventral plates are present. The sulcus is bordered by lists supported by hypothecal plates and extends less than two-thirds of the total length of the hypotheca. The most distinctive feature of S. verruculosa is the minute verrucose ornamentation covering the thecal surface, which contrasts with the smooth and areolate ornamentation of temperate and tropical species, respectively.

Chloroform extracts, n- butanol extracts, water extracts, and volatile compounds from seven species belonging to six Black Sea genera of brown algae and 10 species belonging to seven Black Sea genera of red algae were assessed for antibacterial, antiviral, and cytotoxic properties. Most of the extracts showed pronounced effects against the Gram (+) bacterium Staphylococcus aureus . Activity towards the Gram (-) bacterium Escherichia coli was found in only few cases. A significant reduction in replication of influenza and Herpes simplex viruses in cell cultures was observed. Cytotoxic effect was established in a significant proportion of the algae investigated. The biological activities may be attributed to the presence of volatile compounds, some phenols, free fatty acids and their oxidized derivatives, eucalyptol, the methyl ester of phenyl acetic acid, and 1,2-dihydroxy ethane sulfonate.

β-Phenylethylamine content was investigated in two green, five brown, and ten red marine algae by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. β-Phenylethylamine was found in six red algae but was not detected in the brown and green algae studied. The highest amount of β-phenylethylamine was determined in Gelidium crinale (30.42 μg g -1 ). This is the first report of β-phenylethylamine in the algae tested and also the first to quantify β-phenylethylamine in marine algae.

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