A reassessment of the foliose Bangiales (Rhodophyta) in the Balearic Islands including the proposed synonymy of Pyropia olivii with Pyropia koreana

Abstract

A taxonomic reevaluation of the foliose Ban-giales placed in the genus Porphyra from the Balearic Islands, based on the historical and recent collections, has resulted in a new floristic composition of this group. The molecular, morphological, and karyological analysis reveals that for these islands, there are no Porphyra species, and only two members of the genus Pyropia are present: Pyropia elongata and Pyropia koreana. The sequence data of the rbc L plastid gene indicate that Pyropia olivii and Pyropia koreana are conspecific. We, therefore, propose the synonymy of Pyropia olivii with Pyropia koreana, which is the taxon with nomenclatural priority. The study with the fresh and old material has revealed that neither Porphyra umbilicalis nor Pyropia leucosticta are present in this area and that most of the old herbarium material that has gone under this name belongs to Pyropia elongata