Flora Algarum Marinarum Sinicarum, Tomus 2: Rhodophyta (No. 5) Ahnfeltiales, Gigartinales, Sebdeniales, Nemastomatales, Plocamiales, Gracilariales, Rhodymeniales

About this book

Language: English

Chinese algal taxonomists have conducted large-scale taxonomic studies of benthic seaweeds in China since the early 1930s, and came up with a number of novel findings pertaining to algal taxonomy. The previous Chinese version of this book featured numerous species of rhodophytes belonging to the orders Ahnfeltiales, Gigartinales and Rhodymenials, of which 24 species were reported by Zeng Cheng-Kui (Tseng C.K.), 19 and 53 species were reported by Tseng C.K. and colleagues in Economic Seaweeds of China (1962) and Common Seaweeds of China (1983), respectively, and 29 species by Hang Jin-Xin and Sun Jian-Zhang from the Zhejiang Province in 1983. Meanwhile, the taxonomic work of Zhang Jun-Fu, Xia Bang-Mei and Xia En-Zhan who have monographed and published over 30 papers on Gracilaria, Eucheuma, Hypnea etc. since the early 1960s contributed much of the fundamental materials to the Chinese version of this book.

However, the recent application of molecular phylogeny has greatly improved our under standing of algal taxonomy, which brought great changes to the system of Florideophyceae. Fundamentally, the order Cryptonemiales has been removed while Dumontiaceae, Endocladiaceae, Gloiosiphoniaceae and Kallymeniaceae have been transferred to Gigartinales. At the family level, e.g., Gracilariaceae and Plocamiaceae which were once suborders of Gigartinales, have been taxonomically treated as Gracilariales and Plocamiales. Thus, the taxonomic system of this English version adopts the current system in Algaebase (Guiry and Guiry 2018), and taxonomic revisions of some previous taxa were made accordingly. This book details 116 species belonging to 47 genera, 20 families and seven orders. Several species from Taiwan were not collected but are detailed in this book.