Sauv.) (Phaeophyta, Scytosiphonales
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The occurrence of Colpomenia peregrina (Sauv.) Hamel in the Mediterranean (Phaeophyta, Scytosiphonales) H. Blackler Gatty Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews, Scotland Until the beginning of this century Colpomenia sinuosa (Mert.) Roth was the only of the known in it first found in 1806 species genus European waters; was by Mertens off Cadiz. Mertens made drawings ofit and sent them with his specimens to Roth who described it as Ulva sinuosa and published the description of this alga and Mertens’ his Catalecta vol. that drawings in Botanica III in year. At the beginning of this century a Colpomenia caused considerable damage to the Plants of attached themselves the oyster industry in France. Colpomenia to oysters in and the oyster beds at Vannes other places on the west coast of France. When the Colpo- of menia bladders became old they were filled with a mixture air and water and caused the be the surface of the and float and be lost. This oysters to buoyed up to water away Colpomenia spread to the Channel coast of Brittany and Normandy and across to the Scilly Isles and along the south coast of England and became well established there early in the century. Sauvageau (1927) observed that the Colpomenia responsible for the extensive damage to the oyster beds differed from C. sinuosa by being thinner, forming smooth bladders and the of the and the not thrown into folds or wrinkled, in origin hairs position of the relation the hairs. the hairs sori in to In C. sinuosa are epidermal in origin, though and the later appearing more deepseated due to invagination sori are punctate situated round the hair and covered with cuticle which is the crypts a or pellicle ruptured as plurilocular sporangia develop. Sauvageau named the Colpomenia which caused the the damage to oysters C. peregrina. This species is characterised by the thinness of the hairs from the sub-cortical cells not associated with the which thallus, arising sori, are confluent and have which not punctate no pellicle over the plurilocular sporangia are than those of when of shorter C. sinuosa. Colpomenia peregrina pressed is usually a greenish colour in contrast to the yellowish brown colour of herbarium material of C. sinuosa. Since the beginning of the century C. peregrina has spread round the coasts the British the of Isles from the Scilly Isles to Orkney's and Shetland Isles and down It in the east coast of Scotland and England. was recorded from Holland 1921 and Denmark in 1939 (Lund 1945) and later from Norway (Lund 1949). C. in Sauvageau found peregrina as far south as the Gulf of Gascogny 1908 and Palminha from (1951) recorded it from the Portuguese coast Portinho da Arrabida south of Lisbon Setubal Until there record of near in 1951. 1956 was no C. peregrina for in the Mediterranean. In June 1954, the author searched carefully this alga at Banyuls and the but the member of the which in vicinity, C. sinuosa was only genus present in the is from C. thallus field easily distinguished peregrina as it is thicker and the is thrown into folds wrinkles and is like in Mendez or very Leathesia difformis. However, May 1956 Domingo found C. peregrina growing near the Laboratoire Arago, Banyuls. 6 BLUMEA VOL. XV, No. I, 1967 Mediterranean C. peregrina, however, has been in the much longer than the summer In Leiden is of 1956. the Rijksherbarium of there a specimen collected by Dr. Koster at Naples in May 1939 and this specimen is undoubtedly one of C. peregrina. In March the 1964 when I visited Stazione Zoologica, Naples, to study various algae including examination C. sinuosa, the material of Colpomenia which was brought in, on proved to found be that be C. peregrina which was to growing abundantly in Naples Bay at time. Spores were liberated from the Colpomenia and cultures set up and brought back to this Laboratory. The growth of these cultures was identical with other cultures set up with from spores plurilocular sporangiaon material from St. AndrewsBay, Fife, Scotland, Port Erin, Isle ofMan, Plymouth on the south coast ofEngland, or from the Californian coast of North America. all Prior to this the specimens of Colpomenia from Naples have been recorded under thename of C. sinuosa andexamination ofmaterial from Herbaria from various Museums reveals the of the It is evident that C. presence C. sinuosa only in Naples Bay in past. peregrina has migrated into the Mediterranean and Dr. Roster's specimen collected in from 1939 is the first authentic material of this species which I have seen Naples Bay. The C. raises the to occurrence of peregrina at Naples and then Banyuls question as how the the Mediterranean either the it got into Mediterranean. Entry to is through Red C. Straits of Gibraltar or the Sea and Suez Canal. Rayss (1959) found only sinuosa in the Red Sea and states the differences between C. sinuosa and C. peregrina very clearly so that there is no question of confusion of the species. Thus as both species were in the Mediterranean this would the that C. prior to 1959 appear to support view peregrina had reached the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. The of before Banyuls occurrence Colpomenia peregrina in Naples Bay its appearance at The can be explained by the movement of the tidal currents in the Mediterranean. Atlantic water enters the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar and according the to the Mediterranean Pilot most of the incoming water derived from Portugal and after current flows along the northern coast of North Africa in an easterly direction Bon divides into and then north Cape two currents, one continuing eastwards to Egypt and Black Sea flowing along the Israeli coast to Asia Minor and eventually into the where it circulates and then off the Greek and into the Adriatic. The second goes coast thus two current goes up the west coast of Italy and along the French coast. There are the Mediterranean and and basin and circuits in a western an eastern separated by Italy channel off There movement Sicily and connected by a Malta. is a counterclockwise of water in both basins and the easterly flowing current in the Malta channel is common to both. The of the second would the of course current explain appearance C. peregrina in the of Naples Bay before Banyuls as it flows up west coast Italy and then along the French Riviera and French and Spanish coasts to just south of Cape de la Nao before turning back towards Sicily and Italy. Mendez Domingo (1956) thought that C. peregrina might have reached Banyuls with Codium fragile which has appeared in Banyuls since the end of World War II. the Codium abundant This, however, is not case as fragile was at Banyuls in the summer of 1954 though there was no Colpomenia peregrina there then. Mendez Domingo (1956) forward put an alternative theory to the above that C. peregrina had appeared suddenly in the Mediterranean in the of it did the of France at summer 1956 as on west coast the beginning of the century. Dr. Roster's fmd of C. peregrina in Naples Bay in 1939 this of relûtes suggestion. With regard to the Malta Channel it is interest to note that I of have had material obtained by diving from Mellieha Bay on the north east coast Malta which was all C. sinuosa. H. BLACKLER: in The occurrence of Colpomenia peregrina the Mediterranean 7 Among material of C. sinuosa of the State Herbarium of Munich there are specimens from the Adriatic collected Istria near Trieste in in January 1914 by Dr. G. Seefeldner, which that it been appear very similar to C. peregrina, so appears that C. peregrina has have fresh in the Mediterranean for a long time. Unfortunately I not been able to see material from Trieste. C. be described in its and peregrina can as cosmopolitan distribution can stand a greater of than which thus restricted and does range temperature C. sinuosa is more in its range not occur north of Cadiz in Europe. If the distribution of C. peregrina is studied by examination of herbarium material it appears to occur from Alaska down the Pacific coast of America to Callao near Lima in Peru in South America. It grows abundantly on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and when living material and sectioned material is examined it is identical with British or Mediterranean C. peregrina. There is considerable confusion in the literature with regard to the nomenclature of the Californian material of Colpomenia. Saunders who first found Colpomenia on the Californian coast described C. sinuosa as being thin and C. sinuosa f. expansa as being thick. C. sinuosa as described by Saunders in 1898 is really C. C. peregrina and his sinuosaf. expansa is C. sinuosa as both species occur on the Cali- fornian When Saunders' coast. slides are examined the differences between the species slides show covered are clearly seen, C. sinuosa f. expansa fan shaped sori of sporangia with a pellicle or showing this ruptured roundthe sori exactly as I have seen it in sectioned material of this C. sinuosa from Malta, while in Saunders' C. sinuosa or C. peregrina is and sori in the pellicle lacking the are not punctate. C. peregrina seems to occur Galapagos and Islands Easter Island, in fact its distribution downthe American coast seems to follow that of the cold Humboldt current. It has been found recently on the east coast of North America on the New Brunswick coast of Canada (Blackler 1964), and north of Cape Cod the from in United States (MacFarlane in Blackler 1964).