collective taxonomic study of Eusiphoniidae [chlorophycophyta] from the Mediterranean seashore of Alexandria, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Caullerpa prolifera [Foerskal] Lamour. ecotype-I, C. prolifera [Foerskal] Lamour. ecotype-II, C. prolifera [foerskal] J. Ag. var. microphysa [Weber] n. Comb., Halimeda tuna [Ellis and Solander] Lamour. var. typica Barton, H. opuntia [L] micro Lamour. var. typica Barton, Bryopsis plumosa [Hudson] C. Ag. and B. pennata Lamour. collected from the Mediterranean seashore of Alexandria were chosen for this investigation. These taxa were compared for their morphological features, pigments and electrophoretic isozymal patterns of alpha-Esterase [a-Est], Malate dehydrogenase [MDH], Alkaline phosphatase [Alk. ph], Acid phosphatase [Ac.ph.] and Leucine amino peptidase [LAP]. Isozymal bands in the different zymograms were treated numerically by cluster analysis. Results indicate the association of ecotypic variations in C. prolifera with a special distribution of carotenoids in this species. However, the isozymal patterns of C. prolifera show the least variation with the isolation of ecotypes. The taxonomic importance of the distribution of carotenoids among the Eusiphoniidae has been demonstrated. Also, and based the present collective taxonomic approach, the systematic position of Halimeda, which appeared paradoxial in same classification systems, seemed to be more acceptable by placing with the species of Codium [Codiaceae]