GAVIO, BRIGITTE* and SUZANNE FREDERICQ. Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 42451 Lafayette LA 70504-2451. - Grateloupia turuturu (Halymeniaceae, Rhodophyta): the correct identity of the invasive species in the Atlantic known as Grateloupia doryphora as inferred from molecular and morphological evidence.
Grateloupia doryphora (Montagne) Howe, originally described
from Peru, has repeatedly been reported as an invasive species in
Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. Various attempts to explain this
species’ route of invasion have, so far, been unsatisfying. In the
present paper we provide new evidence on the basis of comparative rbcL
sequence analysis and morphology that this invasive species in the NE
and NW Atlantic corresponds to G. turuturu Yamada, originally
described from Japan. The true origin of this alga follows a
well-recognized trend of invasive marine organisms that have on
various occasions colonized the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea from
Pacific NE Asia.
Key words: Grateloupia doryphora, Grateloupia turuturu, invasive alga, rbcL, Rhodophyta, taxonomy