DNA Barcode-Assisted Inventory of the Marine Macroalgae from the Azores, Including New Records

Up to the present study, only 8.5% of the 522 macroalgal species reported at the Azores have sequences deposited in GenBank and BOLD public repositories. The sequences of four genetic markers (cox1, rbcL, UPA, tufA) were obtained for recently collected samples from two Azorean islands. DNA barcode-assisted identification was conducted on newly generated and unpublished sequences from public repositories. A literature review of recently published studies, including the molecular identifications of Azorean macroalgae, was also performed. The results confirm the occurrence of 51 species (including subspecific ranks) and provide four new records, namely, three cryptogenic species (Olokunia boudouresquei, Padina gymnospora, and Ulva lacinulata) and one introduced species (Ulva australis). This study contributes 23 DNA barcodes generated for the first time to the Azores, which now has 10.5% of its marine flora represented in public repositories. Additionally, UPA sequences were generated for the first time for the five taxa.