Out of the dark: Leptofauchea lucida (Rhodymeniales: Faucheaceae), a new red algal species from the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia

Abstract

The red algal genus Leptofauchea Kylin has a vegetative anatomy akin to Rhodymenia Greville (i.e. with flattened branches and structurally with a pseudoparenchymatous medulla and cortex), but with cystocarps incorporating a tela arachnoidea (a weft of stellate cells lining the inner wall of the pericarp). The genus was based on L. nitophylloides (J.Agardh) Kylin from Port Jackson, Australia, and currently includes ten species (Guiry & Guiry 2019).