Udotea wilsonii A. Gepp, E.S. Gepp & M.A. Howe 1911: 130–131

Acosta-Calderón, Julio Adulfo, Hernández-Rodríguez, César, Mendoza-González, Ángela Catalina & Mateo-Cid, Luz Elena, 2018, Diversity and distribution of Udotea genus J. V. Lamouroux (Chlorophyta, Udoteaceae) in the Yucatan peninsula littoral, Mexico, Phytotaxa 345 (3), pp. 179-218 : 208-209

Udotea wilsonii A. Gepp, E.S. Gepp & M.A. Howe 1911: 130–131 , 144–145

Synonym:— Geppina wilsonii (A. Gepp, E. Gepp & M.A. Howe) Farghaly 1980

Type Locality:— BAHAMAS. North End, Salt Key Bank, Anguilla Isles.

Morphology:—Thalli to 5.5 cm tall, anchored on substrata by a compact rhizoidal mass. Stipe delicate, cylindrical 10 mm length, 2 mm diameter. Gradual transition between the stipe and blade. Blade flabellate, orbicular often lobed, green, as long (3.5–4.5 cm) as wide (4.5–4.8 cm), lower margin ovate or reniform, multistratose with the superior margin unistratose, corticate, calcified, zonation only visible backlit (Fig. 81).

Anatomy:—Blade siphons with lateral appendages, dichotomously branched, 43–45 μm in diameter (Fig. 82), lacking supradichotomic constrictions, blade appendages short and knobby, simple or forked, 19–25 μm in diameter, in two to four vertical rows (Fig. 83). Stipe siphons adjacent to lateral appendages 45–60 μm in diameter, appendages peduncle 120–160 μm length, 20–25 μm in diameter. Appendages branched 2–3 times, with short swollen and flattened dichotomous tips (Fig. 84).

Reproduction: — Vegetative

Material examined:— MEXICO. Quintana Roo, Punta Akumal, 12 September 2014, L. E. Mateo-Cid, A. C. Mendoza-González, J. A. Acosta Calderón, ENCB 23180. MEXICO. Quintana Roo, Puerto Morelos, 20 March 1994. ENCB 18968. MEXICO. Quintana Roo, J. A. Acosta Calderón, Cocalito, Bahía Ascensión, ENCB 20002.

Geographic distribution: — Bermuda, Florida, Belize, Panama, Bahamas, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Mozambique, Mexico.

Habitat: — Rocky bottom associated to coral reefs, protected in cavities. Subtidal to 1 m depth.

Comments: — Gepp & Gepp (1911) provide the first detail description of Udotea wilsonii based in morphological and anatomical characters of the blade and stipe. Specimens examined are broadly in line with the description of Gepp & Gepp (1911) and Littler & Littler (1990). However, the diameters of siphons stipe and blade are smaller than those recorded in specimens from Belize and Panama ( Littler & Littler 1990) but similar than those mentioned by Gepp & Gepp (1911) and Collado-Vides et al. (2009). In this paper, the distribution of this species is confirmed in coral reef environments associated with the coast of Quintana Roo.