Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol. 47 (05), May 2018, pp. 1042-1046

New records of two red seaweeds from Kerala coast, India

Yadav, S.K., Palanisamy*, M. & Murthy, G.V.S.

Botanical Survey of India, Southern Regional Centre, T.N.A.U. Campus, Coimbatore - 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India. *[E-Mail: samy_bsi@yahoo.co.in]

Received 22 August 2016; revised 13 December 2016

Present paper reports the occurrence of two red seaweeds i.e. Catenella impudica (Mont.) J. Agardh and Meristotheca papulosa (Mont.) J. Agardh (Order Gigartinales) for the first time from Kerala coast. Therefore, these are new additions to the seaweed flora of Kerala. Detailed taxonomic account of these two taxa have been provided for easy identification.

[Keywords: Catenella impudica, Meristotheca papulosa, Red seaweeds, New records, Flora, Kerala coast]

Introduction A perusal of literature reveals that the coastline of

Kerala, Fig.1, (8° 18'–12° 48' N latitude and 74° 52'–77° 22' E longitude), has been explored sporadically and there is no comprehensive account of the seaweed resources of the state. An annotated list of 34 species of seaweeds from Kerala (including Kanyakumari coast of Tamil Nadu) was published1. The extended distribution of a red seaweed Porphyra kanyakumariensis from Calicut, Kannur, Varkala and Mullur coasts of Kerala was reported2. Later, 52 species of seaweeds, comprising 22 species of Rhodophyceae, 20 species of Chlorophyceae and 10 species of Phaeophyceae was documented3, followed by a taxonomic account of several red seaweeds from Kerala coast4-6. The extended distribution of a red seaweed Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis was reported from certain backwaters of Kerala7.

During the course of exploration to Kerala coast, two red seaweeds i.e. Catenella impudica and Meristotheca papulosa were found, which were previously reported from other parts of the Indian coasts. Therefore, these two taxa are reported here as new records to the seaweed flora of Kerala. Materials and Methods

In the present study, 8 field tours were undertaken from 2011 to 2015 and a total of 149 coastal localities were surveyed throughout the state. The seaweed samples were collected from all the possible seaweed substrata such as rocks, bedrocks, artificial cement boulders, cliffs, molluscus shells and coastal wastes like nets, plastics, cloths etc. by scrapping with hands

and molluscus shells without damaging the specimen. The collected samples were kept in the plastic zipped covers and containers of various sizes. While making

Fig. 1 – Map showing collection sites in Kerala coast

YADAV et al.: NEW RECORDS OF TWO RED SEAWEEDS FROM KERALA COAST

1043

collection, important field details such as habit, habitats, nature of the coast, locality and its GPS position, vegetation were noted. The habit, habitats and coastal natures were photographed using the underwater camera (Olympus Digital) and digital camera (Nikon COOLPIX L120). All the collected seaweeds were thoroughly washed without damaging the specimens and herbarium sheets were prepared following the standard herbarium techniques8-9. The representative samples were also preserved in 4% formalin - seawater for microscopic studies in laboratories. Each specimen was examined carefully and hand sections were observed under the light microscope (OLYMPUS SZ51) and compound microscope (NIKON SMZ1500 & NIKON ECLIPSE 50i) coupled with computer attached digital sight DS–Fil camera. All the materials are deposited at Madras Herbarium (MH), Botanical Survey of India, Southern Regional Centre, Coimbatore.

Identifications of the samples were confirmed based on the field observation, critical examination of morphological and anatomical characters, following the standard references namely Phycologia Indica: The Icons of Indian Seaweeds8,10, Rhodophyta11-12, Catalogue of the Benthic Marine Algae of the Indian Ocean13 and other online resources14-16. Results and Discussion

Based on the critical examination of fresh specimens and perusal of literature pertaining to Kerala coast, it is reported here that two red seaweeds belonging to the division Rhodophyta and order Gigartinales i.e. Catenella impudica (Mont.) J. Agardh and Meristotheca papulosa (Mont.) J. Agardh are additions to the seaweed flora of Kerala coast. These seaweeds were collected from Kadalundinagaram and Thirumullavaram coasts of Kerala respectively (Figs. 2 & 4). A detailed taxonomic account of these two taxa are given below: Catenella Grev. (Family: Caulacanthaceae)

Presently, there are 6 species of the genus Catenella in world17, of which 3 species i.e C. caespitosa, C. impudica and C. nipae have been reported from India18. Among these, C. caespitosa was reported from the coasts of West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa whereas C. nipae from Sundarbans of West Bengal19.

C. impudica was first reported from Gopnath coast, Gujarat20, followed by from Bhitarkanika mangrove area Odisha21, Godavari estuary, Andhra Pradesh22 and recently from the Maharashtra coast23. The

present study reports its occurrence in Kerala, which shows its extended distribution in the south west cost of India.

Catenella impudica (Mont.) J. Agardh, Spec. Gen. Ord. Alg. 2: 701. 1852; P.C. Silva & al., Cat. Benth. Mar. Alg. Ind. Ocean: 281. 1996; Desikachary & al., Rhodophyta 2 (2B):146. 1998; Sahoo & al.,

Seaweeds Ind. Coast: 169. 2001; Oza & Zaidi, Rev. Checkl. Ind. Mar. Alg.: 49. 2001; Jha & al., Seaweeds Gujarat: 138. 2009; P.S.N. Rao & Gupta, Algae India 3: 48. 2015. Lomentaria impudica Mont. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 2(8): 197. 1840.

Catenella impudica (Figure 3): Thallus blackish to dark-purple red in colour, foliose or frondose, 0.5-2.5 cm long, creeping, decumbent, fragile, epilithic, attached by discoidal haptera at nodes. Holdfast discoid, fimbriate or branched, up to 2 mm long and 180-300 µm wide, delicate, firmly attached on calcareous substrata in the intertidal regions. Stipe minute, indistinct. Fronds articulated, irregularly di-trichotomously branched; branches usually sparse below and profuse towards apex; differentiated into nodes and internodes; internodal segments slender to slightly flattened in young stage, later become spindle or sickle shaped, 1-7 × 0.3-2 mm, deeply constricted at nodes; surface smooth; margins entire, apex irregularly forked with acute to acuminate tips, 410-1240 × 180-290 µm. Microscopic: Cells in surface view usually spherical, 8-15 µm across, irregularly or sparsely arranged. In cross section, thallus up to 1.3 mm thick, differentiated into outer cortical region and central hollow or loosely interwoven medullary region. Spermatangia scattered over the surface; carposporangia develop in chains; tetrasporangia zonate, scattered or embedded in cortical region.

Fig. 2 — Kadalundinagaram coast, showing exposed bedrocksduring low tide

INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 47, NO. 05, MAY 2018

1044

Occurrence: Rare, monsoon season. Distribution: Kerala – Malappuram distr. –

Kadalundinagaram coast. India: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.

Notes: This species is usually found growing in small crevices and grooves on bedrocks in shallow intertidal region. It is differentiated from other two species by its irregular branching and prolonged acuminate tips. The type locality of this species is Cayenne, French Guiana17.

Use: Recently, the antimicrobial activity of this seaweed has been found against a Gram negative bacterium Aeromonous hydrophilia and opined that seaweeds can be a potential source for the development of anti-pathogenic agents against many microbial populations24.

Specimens examined: KERALA: Malappuram distr.: Kadalundinagaram coast, 20.09.2011, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 127191; 19.06.2013, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 128909.

Meristotheca J. Agardh (Family: Solieriaceae) Presently, there are 12 taxa in world17, of which

only 1 has been reported from India18. Meristotheca papulosa (Mont.) J. Agardh, in Acta

Univ. Lund. 8(8): 37. 1877; V. Krishnam. & H.V. Joshi, Checkl. Ind. Mar. Alg.: 21. 1970; Untawale & al., List Mar. Alg. India: 31. 1983; P.C. Silva & al., Cat. Benth. Mar. Alg. Ind. Ocean: 335. 1996; Desikachary & al., Rhodophyta 2 (2B):139. 1998; Oza & Zaidi, Rev. Checkl. Ind. Mar. Alg.: 56. 2001; Jha & al., Seaweeds Gujarat: 149. 2009; P.S.N. Rao & Gupta, Algae India 3: 50.2015. Kallymenia papulosa Mont. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. ser., 3(13): 246. 1850.

Meristotheca papulosa (Figure 5): Thallus dark–rose red in colour, frondose, flat, 5–20 cm long and 2-7 cm wide, cartilaginous, fleshy, erect, epilithic. Holdfast small, crustose or discoid, 0.5-2 mm across, firmly attached on bedrocks and coralline stones in intertidal zones. Stipe small, cylindrical to slightly compressed, gradually flattened upwards, up to 1 cm long and 1-5 mm broad, sometimes indistinct. Fronds foliose, up to 18 cm long, tufted, irregularly pinnately–palmately dissected, lobed; lobes usually uniformly flat, elongate or irregular, surface usually smooth in young thallus and rough or enrolled in mature thallus; margins entire to irregularly proliferared; apex obtuse, acute or narrow lobed. Microscopic: Cells in surface view squarish, spherical or elongated, 2.5–12 µm across, irregularly arranged. In cross section, thallus 200–500 µm thick, multi–

Fig. 3 — Catenella impudica (Mont.) J. Agardh: A. Habit; B.Closeup image of nodes and internodes of a thallus (herbariumspecimen); C. Microscopic image of surface cells; D-E.Illustration showing habit and cross section of an internodalsegment of frond.

Fig. 4 — Panoramic view of Thirumullavaram coast, showingexposed seaweeds during low tide

YADAV et al.: NEW RECORDS OF TWO RED SEAWEEDS FROM KERALA COAST

1045

layered, consisting of outer epidermal layer, middle 5–7 layered cortex and central medulla; epidermal cells small, isodiametriac, 8–14 µm across, compact; cortical cells spherical to stellate, outer cortical cells comparatively smaller, 12–25 µm across, inner cells progressively increasing towards medulla, subspherical to elongate, 25–45 µm long; medulla 120–250 µm thick, cells elongated–tubular, sometimes spathulate, joined, loosely interwoven, 70–200 × 6–25 µm. Carpogonial branches usually develop on ultimate laterals, 3 celled; cysctocarps borne along the margins and on marginal proliferations, oval to spherical, rarely variable, 200–920 µm across. Occurrence: Common, all seasons.

Distribution: Kerala – Kollam distr. – Thirumullavaram coast. India: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Notes: This is the type species of the genus Meristotheca. It was established by J. Agardh in 1872 with just two species. However, Montagne (1850)

first described this species as Kallymenia papulosa from Yemen in the Red Sea, which is currently treated as the basionym of the species M. papulosa. In nature, it is usually found growing in association with Asparagopsis taxiformis, Bryopsis plumosa, Caulerpa peltata, Gelidium micropterum and Valoniopsis pachynema in small crevices on coralline rocks in surf-exposed areas.

Use: It is an edible seaweed and is popularly used for food in Japan25.

Specimens examined: KERALA: Kollam distr.: Thirumullavaram,12.09.2011, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 127095; 20.03.2012, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 127613; 21.03.2012, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 127628; 05.07.2012, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 127686; 18.02.2013, M. Palanisamy 128467; 16.06.2013, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 128842; 03.10.2013, M. Palanisamy & S. K. Yadav 129446; 17.09.2015, S. K. Yadav 126431. Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata for the facilities. References 1 Nair, B. N., Sobha, V. and Arunachalam, M., Algae from

southern Kerala coast. Indian J. Mar. Sci.11 (3) (1982): 266-269. 2 Chennubhotla, V.S.K., Mathew, S. and Joseph,I., A note on

the occurrence of Porphyra kanyakumariensis (Bangiales: Rhodophyta) along the Kerala coast. Seaweed Res. Utiln. 13 (1) (1990): 1-4.

3 Mathew, S. S., Some Observations on the Ecology and Biochemical Aspects of the Seaweeds of Kerala Coast. Ph.D. thesis. Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India, 1991.

4 Anilkumar, C. and Panikkar, M.V.N., Species of Polysiphonia Greville (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the Kerala coast, India. Bionature14 (1994): 53-55.

5 Anilkumar, C. and Panikkar, M.V.N., Indian species of Porphyra (Rhodophyceae, Bangiales). Feddes Repert. 108 (5&6) (1997): 419-423.

6 Sulekha, S. and Panikkar, M.V.N., Marine green algal flora of Kollam Coast, Kerala, South India. Seaweed Res. Utiln. 28(1)(2006): 5-21.

7 Kaladharan, P., Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis (Bory) Dawson - a red alga reported from certain backwaters of Kerala. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc 102 (3) (2005): 378.

8 Srinivasan, K.S., Phycologia Indica (Icones of Indian Marine Algae) Vol. I. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 1969. pp. 52.

9 Dhargalkar, V.K. and Kavlekar, D., Seaweeds–A Field Manual. NIO, Dona Paula, Goa, (2004) pp.36.

10 Srinivasan, K.S., Phycologia Indica (Icones of Indian Marine Algae) Vol. II. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 1973. pp. 60.

11 Desikachary, T.V., Krishnamurthy, V. & Balakrishnan, M.S., Rhodophyta Vol. I. Madras Science Foundation, Chennai, 1990. pp. 279.

Fig. 5 – Meristotheca papulosa (Mont.) J. Agardh: A. Habit; B-C.Closeup image of a mature thallus; D-E. Image and illustrationshowing the cross section of a frond; F-I. Images and illustrationof cystocarp.

INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 47, NO. 05, MAY 2018

1046

12 Desikachary, T.V., Krishnamurthy, V. and Balakrishnan, M.S. Rhodophyta Vol. II. Part–II B. Madras Science Foundation, Chennai, 1998. pp. 359.

13 Silva, P.C., Basson, P.W. and Moe, R. L., Catalogue of the Benthic Marine Algae of the Indian Ocean. University of California press, London, 1996. pp. 1259.

14 Algaebase, http://www.algaebase.org 15 WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species),

http://www.marinespecies.org 16 Macroalgal Herbarium Portal, http://macroalgae.org 17 Guiry, M.D. and Guiry, G.M., Algae Base. World-wide

electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway, 2016. (http: //www.algaebase.org.).

18 Rao, P.S.N. and Gupta, R.K., 2015. Algae of India, Vol 3: A checklist of Indian Marine Algae (Excluding Diatoms & Dinoflagellates). Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 2015. pp. 1-93.

19 Satpati, G.G., Barman, N. and Pal, R. Morphotaxonomic account of some common seaweed from Indian Sundarbans mangrove forest and inner island area. J. Algal. Biomass Utiln., 4 (2012): 45-51.

20 Rao, P. S. and Kale, S.R., Marine algae from the little known places of Gujarat coast – II, Gopnath. In: Prod. 56th Indian Sci. Cong., Bombay (Powai), 1969. Part III. Abstracts. Calcutta. pp. 272-273.

21 Rath, J. and Adhikary, S. P., Marine Macro-algae of Orissa, East Coast of India. Algae, 21(1) (2006): 49-59.

22 Rao, G.M. Narasimha, Rangaiah, G. S. and Dora, S.V.V.S.N., Spore shedding in Catenella impudica from the Godavari Estuary at Bhiravapalem, India. Algae 23(1) (2008.): 71-74.

23 Piwalatkar, Sonali, S., Marine Algal Flora of the Maharashtra Coast, India. Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune. Ph.D. thesis. University of Pune, India, 2010.

24 Mukherjee, M. and Sarkar, R., Antimicrobial drug possibility from marine macroalgae & selected flora from Sunderban delta. International J. Sci. Res., 4 (5) (2015): 3-6.

25 Faye, E. J., Shimada, S., Kawaguchi and Masuda, M., Characterisation of the edible red alga Meristotheca papulosa (Solieriaceae, Gigartinales) from Japan. Phycol.Res., 53 (2005): 234-245.