Litosiphon Harvey, 1849

Lectotype species: Litosiphon pusillus (Carmichael) Harvey

Currently accepted name for the type species: Litosiphon laminariae (Lyngbye) Harvey

Original publication: Harvey, W.H. (1849). A manual of the British marine algae: containing generic and specific descriptions of all the known British species of sea-weeds. With plates to illustrate all the genera. pp. [i]-lii, [1]-252, 27 pls. London: John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row.

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Type designated in: De Toni, G.B. (1891). Systematische Übersicht der bisher bekannten Gattungen der echten Fucoideen. Flora 74: 171-182.

Description: Plants epiphytic on various algae, attached on hosts by rhizoidal holdfast, filiform, simple, parenchymatous, sympodial, solid, less than 10 cm in length, composed of 1- several layers of colorless medullary cells and 1-2 layers of pigmented peripheral cells containing many chloroplasts with prominent pyrenoids. Phaeophycean hairs without basal sheath abundant. Mostly spring to summer annual. Unilocular and plurilocular sporangia formed on entire surface of the thallus, scattered or in groups. Unilocular sporangia directly transformed from peripheral cells, ovate or elliptical. Plurilocular sporangia formed from daughter cells following vegetative divisions, conical or variable in shape. Direct type of asexual life history reported in L. pusillus by various authors. Embryospore shows immediate differentiation. Swarmers from unilocular sporangia and plurilocular sporangia develop into streblonematoid microthallus which form plurilocular sporangia.

Information contributed by: H. Kawai. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2024-02-21 by Pier Kuipers.

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

Gender: This genus name is currently treated as masculine.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Silberfeld, T., Rousseau, F. & Reviers, B. de (2014). An updated classification of brown algae (Ochrophyta, Phaeophyceae). Cryptogamie Algologie 35(2): 117-156, 1 fig., 1 table.

Comments: Pedersen (1978) separated the species formerly placed in the genus lacking phaeophycean hairs (e.g. L. filiformis) into Pogotrichum. Pedersen (1985) also separated L. groenlandicus and L. mortensenii which have hacatonematoid microthalli and showing mediate differentiation of embryospore into Trachynema.

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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=32886

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
Pier Kuipers in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 21 February 2024. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 26 December 2024