Notes on Marine Algae of San Diego County Including Merger of Murrayellopsis with Veleroa

Abstract

The history of marine algal studies in San Diego County is reviewed. <br /><br />Ten taxa of Rhodophyta have ranges that extend into this southernmost part of <br /><br />California on the basis of recent collections. The distributions of these taxa were <br /><br />previously reported to terminate to the north either on the offshore California <br /><br />Channel Islands or on the mainland. San Diego records are summarized for four <br /><br />species that have been added to the California flora since Abbott and Hollenberg's <br /><br />Marine Algae of California was published (1976). Three species earlier considered <br /><br />rare in southern California have been found to be extremely abundant and wide- <br /><br />spread in algal turf on rocky beaches of San Diego County. Recent subtidal col- <br /><br />lections of an undescribed Phycodrys are treated as a major range extension of P. <br /><br />cerratae, described from central Peru. Abundant material from San Diego County <br /><br />sites supports the merger of Murrayellopsis and Veleroa (Rhodophyta) both at <br /><br />the generic and species level; for reasons of priority, Murrayellopsis dawsonii <br /><br />becomes a synonym of Veleroa subulata.