Invasion threat of benthic marine algae arriving on Japanese tsunami marine debris in Oregon and Washington, USA

Recognisable debris from the Great Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011 began arriving on the coasts of Oregon and Washington, USA in June 2012. This debris often carried fouling Japanese marine algae, and there was concern that these species might recruit and invade northeast Pacific shores. From June 2012 to July 2016, we examined 42 heavily fouled debris items and, using both morphology and sequencing data, identified 84 species and varieties of marine algae and cyanobacteria on the debris. Many of these taxa had features that indicated a high invasion potential: 83% were reproductive, 48% were ephemeral, and 75% were opportunistic forms. Naturally widespread species and 13 well-known global invaders were present. However, 61% of the species or their genetic variants had been reported from the northeast Pacific before the tsunami. Although the invasion risk was still deemed high, preventative debris removal appears to have been effective in averting many potential introductions.Keywords: Fouling, Invasive features, Japan, Marine algal diversity, Northeast Pacific, Tsunami debri

The Minute Alga Schizocladia ischiensis (Schizocladiophyceae, Ochrophyta) Isolated by Germling Emergence from 24 m Depth off Rhodes (Greece)

This research was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council in support to FCK(program Oceans 2025–WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/J023094/1) and the NERC National Facility for Scientific Diving (NFSD/14/02). We would also like to thank the TOTAL Foundation (Project “Brown algal biodiversity and ecology in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea”). This work also received support from AFP from the project IDEALG (France: ANR-10-BTBR-04) and from FCK from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Arguments to consider Rugulopteryx okamurae (Dictyotales, Ochrophyta) the potential first seaweed species to be included in the lists of invasive species of European Union concern

In 2015 a new exotic seaweed with invasive behaviour was detected at the Strait of Gibraltar (western Mediterranean), which was morphological and genetically identified as Rugulopteryx okamurae. Due to its rapid expansion and remarkable ecological, economic, and social impacts, the species was included in the Spanish Checklist of exotic invasive species. However, distribution models of the species identified other European coasts as favourable for this new invader. In this presentation we provide scientific arguments for the inclusion of R. okamurae in the list of invasive species of European Union concern, becoming the first seaweed species to be included in that list.Fundación Biodiversidad-Miteco. Universidad de Málaga (Plan propio de investigación). Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Species delimitation of Planosiphon gracilis morphospecies (Scytosiphonaceae, Phaeophyceae) from Japan and the description of Pl. nakamurae sp. nov.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial cox1 and cox3 and chloroplast rbcL gene sequences revealed that the morphospecies of the brown alga Planosiphon gracilis (Scytosiphonaceae, Ectocarpales) from Japan is a complex of three distinct lineages (lineages I–III). Specimens from these lineages had the typical morphology of Pl. gracilis (i.e. flattened, linear, hollow, and gregarious erect thalli); thus, morphological discrimination among them was difficult in many cases. We observed large genetic divergences among the three lineages (c. 10% in cox1 and cox3). Moreover, we observed a reproductive isolating barrier between lineages I and II, despite the wide overlap in their geographic distribution. Our data, therefore, suggest that these three lineages are distinct species. Since lineage I included the holotype specimen of Pl. gracilis, this lineage was attributed to Pl. gracilis. Lineage III was phylogenetically close to Pl. complanatus from Canada with a 4.1% divergence in cox1. For lineage II, a new species name, Pl. nakamurae sp. nov., was proposed. This new species was also found in Argentina.Fil: Masakazu, Hoshino. Hokkaido University; JapónFil: Croce, Maria Emilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Hanyuda, Takeaki. Kobe University; JapónFil: Kogame, Kazuhiro. Hokkaido University; Japó

Providing a phylogenetic framework for trait-based analyses in brown algae: Phylogenomic tree inferred from 32 nuclear protein-coding sequences

International audienceIn the study of the evolution of biological complexity, a reliable phylogenetic framework is needed. Many attempts have been made to resolve phylogenetic relationships between higher groups (i.e., interordinal) of brown algae (Phaeophyceae) based on molecular evidence, but most of these relationships remain unclear. Analyses based on small multi-gene data (including chloroplast, mitochondrial and nuclear sequences) have yielded inconclusive and sometimes contradictory results. To address this problem, we have analyzed 32 nuclear proteincoding sequences in 39 Phaeophycean species belonging to eight orders. The resulting nuclear-based phylogenomic trees provide virtually full support for the phylogenetic relationships within the studied taxa, with few exceptions. The relationships largely confirm phylogenetic trees based on nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial sequences, except for the placement of the Sphacelariales with weak bootstrap support. Our study indicates that nuclear protein-coding sequences provide significant support to conclusively resolve phylogenetic relationships among Phaeophyceae, and may be a powerful approach to fully resolve interordinal relationships with increased taxon sampling