| Pterocladiaceae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Illustration of Pterocladia capillacea from Icones of Japanese algae, 1913 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Archaeplastida |
| Division: | Rhodophyta |
| Class: | Florideophyceae |
| Order: | Gelidiales |
| Family: | Pterocladiaceae Kung Chu Fan, 1961 |
The Pterocladiaceae is a small family of red algae containing 2 genera of agarophytes. [1]
Contents
They are found growing on the coast of Portugal, South Africa, India, Japan, Mexico, Chile and New Zealand. [2]
From the Gelidiales order, GelidiumJ.V. Lamouroux and PterocladiaJ. Agardh, are two of the most widespread genera (which have been often confused for each other) of the Gelidiaceae family. They are separated only by basic features of cystocarps (fruiting structures). The genus PterocladiellaSantelices et Hommersand was later established to segregate from Pterocladia those species with distinct carposporophyte developmental characters (Santelices and Hommersand 1997). [3]
Molecular analyses of taxa within the Gelidiales have identified four major lineages equivalent to Gelidiella, Pterocladia and Pterocladiella as sister taxa, and a fourth large clade including species of Acanthopeltis, Gelidium, Ptilophora, Porphyroglossum and Capreolia (Freshwater et al. 1995, Bailey and Freshwater 1997, Freshwater and Bailey 1998, Shimada et al. 1999). [3]
So the family of Pterocladiaceae was derived in 2006 to hold the genera of Pterocladia and Pterocladiella. [3]
Type genus is PterocladiaJ. Agardh (1851: xi) [3]
