ISSN 1809-127X (online edition) © 2011 Check List and Authors Chec List Open Access | Freely available at www.checklist.org.br Journal of species lists and distribution N Charophyceae, Charales, Characeae, Chara drouetii R.D. Wood, 1965: First record from the state of Quintana Roo, ISTRIBUTIO Mexico D * RAPHIC Mitchell S. Alix and Robin W. Scribailo G EO G N Purdue University North Central, Department of Biology, 1401 South Highway 421, Westville, IN, United States 46391. O * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] OTES N Abstract: Chara drouetii Roo, Mexico. This report extends R.D. Wood, the range 1965 of wasChara recently drouetii collected by approximately during floristic 300 km surveys east of ofthe aquatic nearest macrophytes known occurrence in the ofYucatán this species Peninsula, in Mexico Mexico. and This approximately discovery represents 6,000 km the northwest first documented of the type record locality for this (municipality species from ofthe Fortaleza, state of Quintana state of Ceará, Brazil). Comparative morphometric data on diagnostic taxonomic characters of this species are presented. The genus Chara Linnaeus, 1753 comprises a diverse 23 km north of Manuel, state of Tamaulipas, collected by and complex group of macrophytic green algae that Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps (collection date absent), United occurs on every continent, excluding Antarctica, (Wood States National Herbarium, US TAMPS-14. It is one of an and Imahori 1959; Wood 1964; 1965; Mann et al. 1999; estimated 17 Chara species found in Mexico (Scribailo Martin et al. 2004). Members of this genus are found in a and Alix 2010). In this paper, we present an additional variety of natural and man-made aquatic habitats, which Chara drouetii from a wetland include fresh and brackish water systems, permanent lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, swales and ditches, fromconfirmed the state occurrence of Quintana of Roo, Mexico. Specimens were and seasonal pools (Wood 1965; Moore 1986; Martin et collectedhabitat, which and haverepresents been depositedthe first record in the ofUnited this species States al. 2004), where they are often important components National Herbarium at the Smithsonian Institution (US in the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems (e.g., 3615816), the Friesner Herbarium at Butler University see Hutchinson 1975; Jeppesen et al (BUT, s.n.), and the Aquatic Plant Herbarium of Purdue Berg et al. 1998; Coops 2002). Despite their ecological University North Central (indicated here as PUNC, s.n.). importance and their collection for over. 1998; two centuriesVan den Morphological measurements were taken from dried in North America, many Chara species appear to remain material, using a Nikon Optiphot-2 light microscope equipped with an eyepiece micrometer, and compared bodies (Alix and Scribailo 2010) and under-represented in with those provided by Tindall (unpublished data) and both under-collected during floristic assessmentsChara ofdrouetii water with those reported by Wood and Imahori (1964), and R.D. Wood, 1965 is a primary example of a charalean alga speciesregional of floras the Americas (Scribailo of and which Alix little 2010). is known regarding its range or ecology. Emeritus,Bicudo (1974). Texas IdentificationsTech University). are based on Wood (1965) Chara drouetii is in the subsection Willdenowia R.D. and have been confirmed by Vernon W. Proctor (Professor aquatic macrophytes of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, as Chara zeylanica var. sejuncta forma drouetii based CharaOn 19drouetii January was 2003, discovered during fieldin shallow work to ephemeral catalogue Wood,on a single 1962 specimenand was firstcollected described in 1935 by Woodfrom a(1962) dune pools (20°35’39” N, 87°39’46” W, 11 m above sea level) pond, Urubu, municipality of Fortaleza, state of Ceará, near Hidalgo y Cortés, state of Quintana Roo (Figures 1 northeastern Brazil (Figure 1). Although Chara drouetii and 2). These shallow depressions (ca. 40 cm maximum is included in the Lista de especies Flora do Brasil (Araújo depth) are located below limestone outcrops to the et al. 2010), this species has not been recorded from northeast and northwest of this site (Figure 2), which are Brazil since its collection from the type-locality (Thamis consistent with the karst topography of this region. Chara Meurer, State University of West Paraná, personal drouetii was widespread among these ephemeral pools, communication). On a world-wide basis, Chara drouetii but patchily distributed within each depression. Plants has only been collected and properly documented from two additional habitats in Mexico: 1) a calcareous stream heavily encrusted with calcium carbonate, and fertile. The within the state of San Luis Potosi, approximately 50 km largestwere attached plants at by this rhizoids location to awere fine uplayer to 15of siltcm substrate,in length, south of Ciudad Mante, collected in 1961 by Donald R. having a similar growth form to that indicated in Figure Tindall, Arland T. Hotchkiss, and Richard H. Goodyear, 3A. Like other members of the subsection Willdenowia, University of Louisville, DHL 61-9-9-5; and 2) wetlands Chara drouettii, possesses two tiers of well-developed Check List | Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 2011 021 Alix and Scribailo | Charophyceae, Charales, Characeae, Chara drouetii R.D. Wood, 1965 stipulodes (diplostephanous) at axial nodes (Figure 3B), are monoecious with sejoined gametangia (i.e. occurring basal branchlet segments that are ecorticate (Figure 3C), at separate branchlet nodes, Figures 3C and 3E) typically and 3-corticate (triplostichous) stem axes (Figure 3D) having distal antheridia and proximal oogonia (Figure 3C). and branchlets. Stipulodes of the upper tier range from The branchlets of this species are up to 4 mm in length and often terminate with 1-2 ecorticate segments (Figure 3F). The preceding descriptions and measurements are 366 to 500 μm in length, whereas those of the lower tier consistent with those provided by Wood and Imahori cellsrange are from globular 233 to (Figure 367 μm 3D) in length and highly (Table reduced 1). Stem in axessize (1964), Bicudo (1974), and Tindall (unpublished data) for comparedare up to 256 to other μm in species diameter within (Table this 1) subsection. and cortical Plants spine Chara drouetii, with a few exceptions (see Table 1). For Figure 1. Geographic distribution of Chara drouetii. CA = Central America; MX = Mexico; SA = South America; WI = West Indies; triangle (▲) = type locality; cross (┼) = new locality. Satellite image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Table 1. Morphometrics of Chara drouetii. Parenthetical values = sample size; dagger (†) = unpublished data on specimens collected from San Luis Potosi, Mexico; double dagger (‡) = sample size not available Morphometric Wood and Bicudo This study Tindall† measurements Imahori (1964)‡ (1974) 200-256 (10) 225-300‡ 240-260 (25) Stem diameter (μm) 367-566 (10) 225-360‡ ≤255 400-600 (25) Upper stipulode length (μm) 233-400 (10) 165-285‡ ≤600 390-450 (25) LowerBranchlet stipulode length length(mm) (μm) 2.3-4.0 (10) 3-9‡ ≤450 6-8 (25) 200-300 (10) 240-292 (25) ≤8 Antheridia diameter (μm) 393-525 (27) 560-622 (11) 525-560≤300 525-560≤300 (25) (25) Oogonia length (μm) 295-367 (27) 330-360 (11) 365-410 365-400 (25) OogoniaOospore widthlength (μm) 334-377 (20) 335-390 (25) 405-435 405-435 (25) Oospore width 220-281 (20) 210-255 (25) 260-285 280-285 (25) Number of striae 11-12 (20) 10-12 (25) 11-12 11-12 (25) Number of scute cells 8 (10) 8 (25) 4 4 (25) Check List | Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 2011 022 Alix and Scribailo | Charophyceae, Charales, Characeae, Chara drouetii R.D. Wood, 1965 example, oogonia lengths are consistently smaller in the within the species complex of Chara zeylanica Klein Quintana Roo specimens than those recorded from other ex Willdenow, 1805 because members of this complex collections (Table 1). In addition, plants collected from typically possess both of the latter characteristics (Proctor the Quintana Roo locality possess octoscutate rather than et al. 1971). Although Wood (1962, 1965) subsumed the tetrascutate antherida reported by Wood and Imahori many previously recognized species to varieties and forms (1964) and Wood (1965) for the type specimen of this under a small number of highly variable “macrospecies”, species (NY 1351) and Bicudo (1974) for the isotypes in such as Chara zeylanica, he recognized the possibility the herbarium at the Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo (SP that future studies might clarify the taxonomy of some of 96227, SP 114667, and SP 114669). It should be noted these taxa and provided a microspecies appendix to his that a letter attached to the holotype indicates that this 1965 revision of the Characeae in which many of those taxa, including Chara zeylanica var. sejuncta forma drouetii determined to possess octoscutate antheridia. Although (= Chara drouetii wespecimen have wasnot examinedexamined in the 1991 isotypes, by Vernon it W.is Proctorreasonable and validly published names with Wood as the Authority. to presume they also contain octoscutate antheridia. ), were given specific rank and thus are Observations of tetrascutate versus octoscutate antheridia in the aforementioned specimens may be a consequence of antheridial scutes from dried herbarium specimens. The presencethe difficulties of only associated octoscutate with antheridia determining in Charathe number drouetii of would support an earlier claim by Proctor and Wiman (1971) that tetrascutate antheridia have not been found on a species having sejoined gametangia within the subsection Willdenowia and lends credence to the idea that these species should be recognized as taxonomically distinct from those having conjoined gametangia and tetrascutate antheridia. As such, this line of reasoning refutes Wood’s (1962, 1965) taxonomic placement of Chara drouetii Figure 3. Morphology of Chara drouetii. (A) Habit × 1; (B) Axial node, showing stipulodes × 40; (C) Overview of branchlet with distal antheridia and proximal oogonia × 23; (D) Triplostichous axial cortex × 90; (E) Branchlet section with sejoined gametangia × 40; (F) Apices of branchlets, showing dactyls × 40.