Basispora, a new genus of the Ralfsiaceae

Abstract

Basispora is recognised as a new genus of the Ralfsiaceae (Phaeophyceae), distinguished from other members of this family by the terminal unilocular sporangia arising on long stalks from near the base of the simple, often assurgent, laterally free erect filaments. The type species Basispora africana is described; it is widely distributed along the West African coast. Two other taxa from New Zealand, formerly included in Hapalospongidium, are transferred to this new genus, necessitating the new combinations Basispora saxigena and B. durvilleae. These three species are separated on the structure of the vegetative thallus, dimensions, shape of the sporangial stalk and on the type of substrate on which they grow.