Benthic marine flora of the Mediterranean Sea: Rhodophyta - Rhodimeniophycidae IV, Ceramiales II - Rhodomelaceae

Abstract

In this fourth contribution on Rhodymeniophycidae (the fifth and last of Rhodophyta) the RHODOMELACEAE of the Mediterranean Sea (excluding the Black Sea) are discussed. The introduction briefly reports the taxonomic history of this vast family of the order Ceramiales; furthermore, a table (Table 1) is provided which summarizes, on the basis of recent studies of molecular phylogeny, the current subdivision of the Family into 21 Tribes. It should be noted that the above studies no longer allow either the traditional Subfamilies or the tribe Lophosiphonieae to be maintained. Then an identification key of the taxa is given as well the description in phylogenetic order, as indicated in the aforementioned Table 1, of the 12 Tribes represented in the Mediterranean Sea. The 37 genera and 111 taxa at the specific and infraspecific level accepted for the Mediterranean are treated following the alphabetical order within the family. Moreover, the following other taxa at the specific and infraspecific level recorded from the Mediterranean Sea, were treated: 27 taxa excludenda (4 of which also inquirenda); 89 taxa inquirenda (4 of which also with an illegitimate name); 52 taxa with an illegitimate name (4 of which also excludenda); 50 invalidly published names (36 of which are nomina nuda), 1 invalid combination; 5 incorrect names and 13 late isonyms. Of each taxon at specific and infraspecific level accepted for the Mediterranean Sea, a brief description preceded by both iconographic references and references reporting its distribution in the Mediterranean Sea, is given. Moreover, the treatment of most taxa is enriched with illustrations, bilingual notes (Italian and English) to support the synonymies indicated or the taxonomic choices made or the reasons why some taxa are considered inquirenda and/or excludenda. The work is completed by a glossary, an index of the names of the taxa cited in the text and the Addenda and Errata corrige to the paper by Cormaci et al. (2023).