Vanvoorstia bennettiana (Harvey) Papenfuss 1956
Current name:
Vanvoorstia bennettiana (Harvey) Papenfuss
Pl. LXI Harvey 1859 Phycologia australica - 13 March 2023. Copyright expired
Publication Details
Vanvoorstia bennettiana (Harvey) Papenfuss 1956: 160
Published in: Papenfuss, G.F. (1956). On the nomenclature of some Delesseriaceae. Taxon 5: 158-162.
Request PDFType Species
The type species (holotype) of the genus Vanvoorstia is Vanvoorstia spectabilis Harvey.
Status of Name
This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.
Basionym
Claudea bennettiana Harvey
Type Information
Type locality: Paramatta river, near east end of Spectacle Island, Port Jackson [Sydney, New South Wales, Australia]; (Harvey 1859: pl. 61) Type: W.H.H. & W. Sheridan Wall; 1855; (Harvey 1859: pl. 61)
General Environment
This is a marine species.
Created: 01 August 2000 by M.D. Guiry.
Last updated: 12 March 2014
Verification of Data
Users are responsible for verifying the accuracy of information before use, as noted on the website Content page.
Conservational notes
Alan Millar (message on algae-l, 7 March 2001) wrote: [This alga] was first discovered in 1855 by W.H.Harvey from the shallows of Spectacle Island, Sydney Harbour. It was recollected (lots of specimens now filed in NSW) in 1886 by Dr Ramsay, the then director of the Australian Museum, after a request from Baron Ferdinand von Muller (then Director of the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne) who wished to study it further. In 1916, Arthur Lucas failed to find it in the harbour and many extensive searches using SCUBA by myself have failed to find it over the last 13 years.
On Christmas eve, 2000, the alga was listed as a "species presumed extinct" by an Act of the NSW Parliament on the schedules of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 of NSW. It has since been nominated for listing on the Australian National schedules.
At this stage, the IUCN cannot recognise the alga as extinct as there is no Specialist Group (SG) for marine algae that they have sanctioned. In short, if we are to ever have an alga listed on the IUCN Red lists, then we need to set up a SG. I am more than willing to co-ordinate such an international group and continue my liason with the IUCN to achieve this goal.
This story is a paper I submitted to the proceedings of the XVII ISS in Cape Town, South Africa. - (11 May 2006) - G.M. Guiry
According to the IUCN Website (23 August 2007 "Bennett's Seaweed" (Vanvoorstia bennettiana) is the only species of red algae on the 2003 IUCN Red List and is listed as Extinct. This Australian species has only ever been collected from two sites. No specimens have been seen or collected over the last 116 years, despite numerous collections made by algologists during that period. Habitat loss through human activities (trawling, dredging, infrastructure development, human settlement, tourism/recreation, water transportation, fisheries-related bycatch, and water pollution from agriculture, domestic, commercial/ industrial, oil, sedimentation and sewage) caused the extinction of this species." - (23 August 2007) - G.M. Guiry
Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=23738
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 12 March 2014. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 29 March 2025
