First Record of the Minute and Rare Marine Red Alga Colaconema Bonnemaisoniae Batters for Türkiye

The genus Colaconema was established by Batters [1], with three species described at that time: C. bonnemaisoniae Batters, C. chylocladiae Batters and C. reticulatum Batters [current name Colacodictyon reticulatum (Batters) Feldmann]. Colaconema bonnemaisoniae is the lectotype species of the genus. Colaconema closely resembles Audouinella Bory [2]. Ten species of the genus Colaconema was known from the Mediterranean Sea: C. bonnemaisoniae, C. Codicola (Børgesen) Stegenga, J.J. Bolton & R.J. Anderson, C. corymbiferum (Thuret) Alongi, Cormaci & G. Furnari, C. daviesii (Dillwyn) Stegenga, C. hallandicum (Kylin) Afonso-Carrillo, Sanson, Sangil & Diaz-Villa, C. infestans (M. Howe & Hoyt) Woelkerling, C. leptonema (Rosenvinge) Alongi, Cormaci & G. Furnari, C. nemalii (De Notaris ex Dufour) Stegenga, C. savianum (Meneghini) R. Nielsen and C. subtilissimum (Kützing) Alongi, Cormaci & G. Furnari [2]. C. bonnemaisoniae is differs from other Mediterranean species by endophytic thallus. It was recorded as endophytic in cell-wall of red alga Bonnemaisonia asparagoides [1].

Figure 1:The red alga Colaconema bonnemaisoniae (A-B: endophytic on Pedobesia simplex) from the Aegean coast of Türkiye.

Colaconema bonnemaisoniae ( Rhodophyta, Florideophyceae, Colaconematales, Colaconemataceae) found from the coast of Gökova Bay (36,7977º N; 28,0153º E) of the Aegean Sea in November 2023 at 5m depth. The algal material was collected by SCUBA diving, and specimen was preserved in 4-5% formalin in seawater. The identification of the sample was made on the basis of the descriptions by Cormaci et al. [2]. Thalli filamentous, minute and endophytic in the green alga Pedobesia simplex (Figure 1AB). Thalli endophytic, pink in color, prostrate, filaments richly and irregularly branched, growing between the cell walls of the host plant. C. bonnemaisoniae is known from Atlantic Ocean (Britain, France, Ireland, Sweden, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal), North America, Mexico, China, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the Mediterranean Sea (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain France) [3].

Acknowledgement: This study has been supported by TÜBİTAK (Ankara, Turkey), (121Y215).

1. Batters EAL (1896) On some new British marine algae. Annals of Botany 9(2): 307-321.
2. Cormaci M, Furnari G, Alongi G (2017) Marine benthic flora of the Mediterranean Sea: Rhodophyta (excluding Rhodymeniophycida). Bulletin of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Catania 50: 1-391.
3. Guiry MD, Guiry GM (2024) Algae Base. World-wide Electronic Publication, National University of Ireland, Galway.