Taxonomy of Sargassum

Algae > Volume 4(2); 1989 > Article

Algae 1989;4(2): 107-110.

Tadao Yoshida

Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University

ABSTRACT

Sargassum C. Agardh 1820 (nom. cons.) is a very large genus of Phaeophyceae with nearly 500 described species, which are distributed in temperate and tropical regions all through the world. The genus is typified by S. bacciferum (=S. natans). Among the attempts to subdivide the genus into certain subgroups, 5 subgenera system of J. Agardh (1889) was universally adopted with or without minor modification up to present. He recognized following subgenera: Phyllotrichia, Schizophycus, Bacthrophycus, Arthrophycus and Sargassum (=Eusargassum). Agardhian system of subdivision of the genus is critically discussed and emphasis is centered on the subgenus Bactrophyous. This subgenus is confined to east Asia in its distribution and here it is diversified to more than 30 species. Currently this subgenus is subdivided into 5 sections circumscribed with certain combination of morphological characters: Section Spongocarpus (Kuetzing) Yoshida, LT: S. horneri. Section Teretia Yoshida, T.: S. confusum. Section Halochloa (Kuetzing) Yoshida, LT: S. siliquastrum. Section Repentia Yoshisda, T.: S. okamurae. Section Phyllocystae Tseng, T.: S. phyllocystum. For the future progress of Sargassum taxonomy, much more information is needed concerning the developmental process of the plants, morphological variations according to environmental factors and other field or research.

Key words: Arthrophycus, Bactrophycus, phaeophyta, Phyllotrichia, Sargassum, Schizophycus, taxonomy.