Zosterocarpus abyssicola

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Zosterocarpus abyssicola
Zosterocarpus abyssicola herbarium specimen NMNH-00170861 (cropped).jpg
Pressed herbarium specimen of Z. abyssicola from 1934
Zosterocarpus abyssicolus.jpg
Fig. 9, part of a branch showing the branchlets, young tannin-filled cells, and early gametangium development.
Fig. 10, branch tip showing the acute apex, the intercalary growth zones, and a yellow tannin-filled cell.
Fig. 11, junctions of the forks of two larger branches and a well-developed gametangial area
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Ectocarpales
Family: Chordariaceae
Genus: Zosterocarpus
Species:
Z. abyssicola
Binomial name
Zosterocarpus abyssicola
W.R.Taylor, 1945
Synonyms

Zosterocarpus abyssicola is a species of brown algae endemic to the Galapagos islands.

Contents

Distribution

This is a very inconspicuous species and hard to identify, so much that it is only known from its collection of types. [1] The only specimens were collected in 1934 at Post Office Bay by Floreana Island in the Galápagos Islands, and the species is considered endemic to the area. [2] A 2007 search failed to find any further specimens. [1]

Etymology

The specific epithet abyssicola derives from the Greek ἄβυσσος (ávyssos) and Latin -cola, meaning one who inhabits the abyss. However, it has only been found at 55 meters depth, [2] and is photosynthetic, so the name is hyperbole.

Description

The thallus is a light green-brown and 1–2 cm tall. [2] The form is rather diffuse and spreading, without a persistent main axis. [2] The cells of the major branches are thin-walled, cylindrical, and 32 μm in diameter and 58–65 μm long. [2]

The characteristic oval brown cells were assumed to be the sporangia by Taylor, [2] but are special tannin-filled cells. [3] These are scattered throughout the upper thallus, but solitary, measuring about 30 μm in diameter and 68–70 μm long. [2] They contain oval-shaped bodies. [2]

The gametangia are in clusters of 4–6 cells and only 6–8 μm in diameter. [2]

The species lacks phaeophycean "hairs" and the parenchyma is weakly developed. [3] It is more slender than Z. oedogonium , and the brown tannin cells for the former are wider than the rest of the filaments, ad opposed to the same size. [2] Z. ogasawaraensis and Z. australicus lack these special cells. [3] The latter two also have laterals that arise from single sells on the filaments and not from the septa between cells like the former two species. [3]

Ecology

The species is an epiphyte. [2] It is thought to be eaten by sea urchins. [1]

Conservation

It has been evaluated by the IUCN as data deficient, and is one of only fifteen protists evaluated by IUCN. [1] Like Desmarestia tropica , another William Randolph Taylor find from the same expedition, it is threatened by warming ocean temperatures and overgrazing by sea urchins. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miller, K.A.; Garske, L.; Edgar, G. (2007). "Zosterocarpus abyssicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2007: e.T63592A12685875. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63592A12685875.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Taylor, William Randolph (May 1945). "Pacific marine Algae of the Allan Hancock expeditions to the Galapagos islands" (TIF). Allen Hancock Pacific Expeditions. 12: 79–80, 320–321. LCCN   42021995. OCLC   758261137 . Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kitayama, Taiju (22 November 2013). "Morphology of Zosterocarpus ogasawaraensis sp. nov. (Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta), a New Marine Deep-water Brown Alga from the Ogasawara Islands, Japan" (PDF). Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. 39 (4): 159–164. ISSN   1881-9060. OCLC   5528941544 . Retrieved 16 August 2018.