Iridaea Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1826, nom. et typ. cons.
Holotype species: Iridaea cordata (Turner) Bory
Original publication and holotype designation: Bory de Saint-Vincent, J.B. (1826). Iridée. Iridea. In: Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire Naturelle. (Audouin, I. et al. Eds) Vol. 9, pp. 15-16. Paris:
Request PDFPrecise date of publication: 25 Feb 1826
Description: Plants of the largest species reach 140 cm in length. Thalli are erect, usually in clusters, from a crustose base and form linear-lanceolate to broadly foliose blades. Cystocarps are dispersed and embedded in the thallus, the carposporophytes being surrounded by a filamentous hull. Spermatangia form in extensive sori on the blades. Tetrasporangia arise in short chains laterally derived from cells within medullary filaments.
Information contributed by: G.T. Kraft. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2016-03-16 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: Schneider, C.W. & Wynne, M.J. (2007). A synoptic review of the classification of red algal genera a half a century after Kylin's "Die Gattungen der Rhodophyceen". Botanica Marina 50: 197-249.
Comments: The typification and nomenclatural history of this important carrageenanophyte are extremely complex (Parkinson, 1981), and the final composition of the genus probably awaits major changes. Leister (1977) has foreshadowed that some or many of the species now placed in Iridaea will be transferred to the undescribed genus Boryella based on differences in the ontogeny of the involucres of sterile filaments that surround the carposporophyte during its initiation and development, as well as the mode of tetrasporangial formation. Carrageenans in species of Iridaea vary with the ploidy level (McCandless et al. 1975; Waaland 1975), permitting identification of juvenile and sterile individuals as gametophytes or sporophytes. Utilizing this character, Dyck et al. (1985) assessed and speculated on the possible causes of eastern Pacific populations that were highly skewed to one generation or the other, and May (1986) considers possible causes of a northeastern Pacific population of one species that was 83% gametophytes and 17% sporophytes. Hannach and Waaland (1986) summarize knowledge of the biology, ecology, and economic potential of Iridaea, concluding that our understanding is not yet at the point of managing existing wild populations to provide sustained yields or to achieve successful commercial cultivation. Distribution: The centre of distribution for the species now credited to Iridaea is western South America, with a major extension up the North American coast through southern Alaska to northern Japan. Other species occur on the islands of the Subantarctic (Ricker 1986).
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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=35752
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 16 March 2016. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 22 November 2024
