Udotea sp.

Coppejans, Eric, Leliaert, Frederik, Verbruggen, Heroen, de Clerck, Olivier, Schils, Tom, de Vriese, Thomas & Marie, Daniel, 2004, The marine green and brown algae of Rodrigues (Mauritius, Indian Ocean), Journal of Natural History 38 (23), pp. 2959-3020 : 2995-2996

* Udotea sp.

( figure 21 )

Voucher. HEC 14759 (zF), 24 September 2001, Grand Baie (s.s. 10) .

Ecology. Only one population of this species was observed. Thalli grew on coral fragments along the sandy-silty slope of a tide channel, at 15 m depth.

Note. Morphologically similar to U. orientalis A. Gepp and E. Gepp , with auriculate flabellum, the entire plant being 2.5– 4 cm high and the flabellum

3–3.5 cm wide. Blade siphons covered by a dense cortex formed by longly stalked appendages; the apical, peltately arranged parts of these pseudodichotomously to sympodially branched, with rounded tips. Almost uncalcified and spongy. Most probably a species new to science.

General remarks on the distribution of Udotea in the Mascarene Islands

Two stout, strongly calcified species that have been mentioned from Mauritius were not collected on Rodrigues: U. argentea Zanardini ( Børgesen, 1940: 60) and U. flabellum (Ellis and Solander) Howe ( Børgesen, 1946: 42–43) .

Figures

FIGS 19–24. Chlorophyta. (19) Caulerpa nummularia, proliferating from primary, peltate assimilator (HEC 14609 p.p.). (20) Rhipidosiphon javensis (HEC 14763). (21) Udotea sp. (HEC 14759). (22–24) Udotea palmetta (HEC 14817): (22) general morphology of large, fertile specimen; (23) gametangia growing from the blade surface; (24) gametangia growing from the blade margin. Scale bars: 2 mm (19, 20); 1 cm (21, 22); 1 mm (23); 500 mm (24).