Melanthalia Montagne, 1843

Holotype species: Fucus obtusatus Labillardière

Currently accepted name for the type species: Melanthalia obtusata (Labillardière) J.Agardh

Original publication and holotype designation: Montagne, C. (1843). Quatrième centurie de plantes cellulaires exotiques nouvelles. Décades VII. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique, Seconde Série 20: 294-306, pl. 12.

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Description: Plants reach 30 cm in length and are erect from a crustose holdfast, narrow, terete to strongly compressed, and regularly and repeatedly dichotomously branched. Textures are extremely cartilaginous. Unlike most other red algal genera, color is a distinguishing feature, plants being very dark reddish-brown and drying black. Papenfuss (1935) reported 3-celled carpogonial branches and direct fusion of the carpogonium with an adjacent sterile gametophytic cell, followed by ramified fusion cell formation and development of a carposporophyte composed largely of long branched chains of carposporangia. Nutrient tubular cells are lacking. Ostiolate, protuberant cystocarps form prominent swellings at the margins of compressed species. Tetrasporangia form in nemathecia that surround the terminal few millimeters of the axes.

Information contributed by: G.T. Kraft & M.D. Guiry. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2018-11-05 by M.D. Guiry.

Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Gender: This genus name is currently treated as feminine.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Gurgel, C.F.D., Norris, J.N., Schmidt, W.E., Le, H.N. & Fredericq, S. (2018). Systematics of the Gracilariales (Rhodophyta) including new subfamilies, tribes, subgenera, and two new genera, Agarophyton gen. nov. and Crassa gen. nov. Phytotaxa 374(1): 1-23.

Comments: The genus is endemic to southern Australia and New Zealand, with one species also reported from New Caledonia. Plants generally occur subtidally on open coasts. Fredericq & Hommersand (1989) report that reproductive features of Melanthalia are generally similar to those in Curdiea.

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Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in CD format. These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above. The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.

Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.

Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=42564

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 05 November 2018. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 29 March 2024

 
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