Abstract
Two Mediterranean Cystoseira taxa, namely Cystoseira foeniculacea f. schiffneri and Cystoseira funkii, are added to the macroalgal flora of Greek seas, both of them being described for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Descriptions, photographs, habitat type and distribution details, as well as brief notes, are provided for each taxon. Both taxa are rare, protected by the Barcelona Convention, and were found within three Natura 2000 marine Sites of Community Importance, highlighting the importance of establishing and enforcing site-specific management measures to ensure conservation of these rare, Mediterranean endemic, and little known taxa.
About the authors
Konstantinos Tsiamis is a marine biologist, focusing on seaweeds and seagrasses: biodiversity, biology, ecology and taxonomy, with emphasis on alien species and pollution impacts in the Mediterranean Sea. He has participated in more than 25 research projects on the marine environment, has been involved in 35 scientific peer-reviewed publications, has participated in numerous symposia and workshops, and has obtained several scholarships. He is an expert scuba diver with long experience in sampling seaweeds and seagrasses. He has recently been appointed as a scientific/technical support officer for the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Maria Salomidi is a research associate at the Institute of Oceanography of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research. She studied Environmental Sciences, putting an early focus on marine ecology. Her PhD thesis involved the development and standardization of photosampling techniques in assessing the ecological status of coastal areas based on macroalgal indicators. She is an experienced technical scuba diver and founding member of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HMCR) Scientific Diving Team. Her main research interests lie in the fields marine ecology and biodiversity, ecological quality and environmental impact assessment, habitat mapping and assessment, sensitive species and habitat conservation and marine protected areas.
Eleni Kytinou is a marine biology research associate at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). Her MSc thesis concerns benthic flora and fauna of Marine Protected Areas, with emphasis on visual census sampling methods. Over the last years, she has participated in research projects about marine biodiversity, alien species, biology and ecology of benthic megafauna and phytobenthic ecological status indices. She is an experienced scuba diver and free diver using various underwater sampling techniques.
Yiannis Issaris is a research associate at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), a PhD candidate of Marine Ecology at the Department of Biology of the University of Athens and an underwater photographer. His doctoral research is focused on developing new techniques for visual surveys of marine organisms and specifically addressing detectability issues that affect the accuracy of range and abundance estimations. He has extensive working experience on fine and medium-scale habitat mapping, GIS cartography, monitoring populations of marine benthic and benthopelagic species, and on various underwater sampling techniques with scuba diving.
Vasilis Gerakaris is a marine ecology research associate at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), a PhD candidate of Marine Ecology at the Department of Biology of the University of Athens, Greece. His PhD research is focused on seagrasses of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, with emphasis on the application and development of ecological indices. He has extensive working experience of monitoring phytobenthic communities. He is an expert scientific scuba diver with long experience on various underwater sampling techniques.
Acknowledgments
Thanks are due to the Management Body of Karpathos-Saria Islands for supporting fieldwork in Saria and Kassos Islands, and to Prof. Guiseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara for supporting fieldwork in Patmos Island.
References
Bulleri, F., L. Benedetti-Cecchi, S. Acunto, F. Cinelli and S.J. Hawkins. 2002. The influence of canopy algae on vertical patterns of distribution of low-shore assemblages on rocky coasts in the northwest Mediterranean. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 267: 89–106.10.1016/S0022-0981(01)00361-6Search in Google Scholar
Chryssovergis, B. 1995. L’ impact de l’ eutrophisation sur les algues benthiques (Chlorophyceae, Fucophyceae, Rhodophyceae) de l’ infralittoral supérieur du golfe de Maliakos (Mer Egée, Grèce). These Universite d’ aix-Marseille II. pp. 179.Search in Google Scholar
Cirik, S., V. Aysel, H.A. Benli, B. Cihangir and A. Ünlüoglu. 2000. Preliminary studies on the marine vegetation of northern Cyprus. Turkish J. Marine Sciences 6: 31–40.Search in Google Scholar
Cormaci, M., G. Furnari, M. Catra, G. Alongi and G. Giaccone. 2012. Flora marina bentonica del Mediterraneo: Phaeophyceae. Boll. Accad. Gioenia Sci. Nat. 45: 1–508.Search in Google Scholar
Furnari, G., M. Cormaci and D. Serio. 1999. Catalogue of the benthic marine macroalgae of the Italian coast of the Adriatic Sea. Bocconea12: 1–214.Search in Google Scholar
Gerloff, J. and M. Nizamuddin. 1976. New species of the genus Cystoseira C. Ag. Nova Hedwigia 27: 167–182.Search in Google Scholar
Giaccone, G. 1986 (1985). Una nuova specie mediterranea del genere Cystoseira C. Agardh (Phaeophyta, Fucales): Cystoseira hyblaea G. Giaccone, con osservazioni critiche su alcune entitá tassonomiche poco note o imperfettamente descritte. Boll. Accad. Gioenia Sci. Nat. 18: 429–442.Search in Google Scholar
Hamel, G. 1939. Phéophycées de France. Fasc. V. Paris, pp. 337–432.Search in Google Scholar
Hereu, B., L. Mangialajo, B. Enric and T. Thibaut. 2008. On the occurrence, structure and distribution of deep-water Cystoseira (Phaeophyceae) populations in the Port-Cros National Park (Northwestern Mediterranean). Eur. J. Phycol. 43: 263–273.Search in Google Scholar
Pérès, J.M. and L. Picard. 1964. Nouveau manuel de bionomie benthique de la Mer Méditerranée. Recl. Trav. Stn. Mar. Endoume31: 3–137.Search in Google Scholar
Pergent, G. 1991. Les indicateurs écologiques de la qualité du milieu marin en Mediterranée. Oceanis17: 341–350.Search in Google Scholar
Roberts, M. 1978. Active speciation in the taxonomy of the genus Cystoseira C. Ag. In: (D.E.G. Irvine and J.H. Price, eds.) Modern approaches to the taxomy of Red and Brown Algae. Systematics Association Special Vol. 10, Academic Press, London, New York. pp. 399–422.Search in Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Prieto, C., E. Ballesteros, F. Boisset and J. Afonso-Carrillo. 2013. Guía de las macroalgas y fanerógamas marinas del Mediterráneo occidental. Ediciones Omega S.A., Barcelona. pp. 656.Search in Google Scholar
Taşkın, E., M. Öztürk, O. Kurt and M. Öztürk. 2008. The check-list of the marine algae of Turkey. Ecem Kirtasiye, Manisa. pp. 87.Search in Google Scholar
Taşkın, E., R. Jahn, M. Öztürk, G. Furnari and M. Cormaci. 2012. The Mediterranean Cystoseira (with photographs). Celar Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. pp. 75.Search in Google Scholar
Thibaut, T., S. Pinedo, X. Torras and E. Ballesteros. 2005. Long-term decline of the populations of Fucales (Cystoseira spp. and Sargassums spp.) in the Albères coast (France, Northwestern Mediterranean). Mar. Pollut. Bull.50: 1472–1489.Search in Google Scholar
Thibaut, T., A. Blanfuné, C.F. Boudouresque and M. Verlaque. 2015. Decline and local extinction of Fucales in the French Riviera: the harbinger of future extinctions? Medit. Mar. Sci.16: 206–224.10.12681/mms.1032Search in Google Scholar
Tsiamis, K., P. Panayotidis, M. Salomidi, A. Pavlidou, J. Kleinteich, K. Balanika and F.C. Küpper. 2013a. Macroalgal community response to re-oligotrophication in Saronikos Gulf. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.472: 73–85.10.3354/meps10060Search in Google Scholar
Tsiamis, K., P. Panayotidis, A. Economou-Amilli and C. Katsaros. 2013b. Seaweeds of the Greek coasts. I. Phaeophyceae. Medit. Mar. Sci.14: 141–157.10.12681/mms.315Search in Google Scholar
UNEP-PAM-RAC/SPA. 2012. Protocol concerning specially protected areas and biological diversity in the Mediterranean. Annex II. List of endangered or threatened species. Paris. pp. 7.Search in Google Scholar
Verlaque, M. 1987. Contribution a l’etude du phytobenthos d’un ecosystem photophile thermophile en Mediterranee occidental. These. Univ. d’ Aix-Marseille II. pp. 389.Search in Google Scholar
Verlaque, M., E. Ballesteros, E. Sala and J. Garrabou. 1999. Cystoseira jabukae (Cystoseiraceae, Fucophyceae) from Corsica (Mediterranean) with notes on the previously misunderstood species of C. funkii. Phycologia38: 77–86.Search in Google Scholar
©2016 by De Gruyter
