Marine algal (seaweed) flora of Graciosa Island, Azores

Ana Isabel Neto; Manuela I. Parente; Andrea Z. Botelho; Afonso C. L. Prestes; Roberto Resendes; Pedro Afonso; Nuno Vaz Álvaro; David Milla-Figueras; Raul M. A. Neto; Ian Tittley; Ignacio Moreu

doi:10.15468/uxjpmx

Marine algal (seaweed) flora of Graciosa Island, Azores

Citation

Neto A I, Parente M I, Botelho A Z, Prestes A C L, Resendes R, Afonso P, Álvaro N V, Milla-Figueras D, Neto R M A, Tittley I, Moreu I (2020). Marine algal (seaweed) flora of Graciosa Island, Azores. Version 1.9. Universidade dos Açores. Sampling event dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/uxjpmx accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-15.

Description

Background The macroalgal flora of Graciosa (central group of Azores archipelago) is poorly known, the published information reflecting occasional collections from sporadic field visits to the island. To overcome this, a thorough investigation under the Expedition “GRACIOSA/2004”, the Campaigns “PADEL/2006”, “MACROBIOLMOL/2014” and “PIMA-BALA/2017” involving sample collecting and presence data recording, was undertaken over an area of 19 km2 encompassing littoral and sublittoral levels down to about 40 m. This paper lists the taxonomic records and provides information on species ecology and occurrence around the island improving the knowledge of the Azorean macroalgal flora at both local and regional scales.

New information A total of 1692 specimens belonging to 250 taxa of macroalgae (and including 55 taxa identified only at the genus level) are registered, comprising 166 Rhodophyta, 36 Chlorophyta and 48 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). From these, 195 are identified to the species level (126 Rhodophyta, 31 Chlorophyta and 38 Ochrophyta) and comprise 156 native, 20 of uncertain origin and 14 introductions to the island. Predaea feldmannii subsp. azorica Gabriel is an Azorean endemic, whereas Codium elisabethiae O.C. Schmidt, Botryocladia macaronesica Afonso-Carrillo, Sobrino, Tittley & Neto, Phyllophora gelidioides P.Crouan & H.Crouan ex Karsakoff and Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun represent Macaronesian endemics. Seventy-nine species are newly recorded to the island.

Introduction Around 400 species have been recorded in the isolated mid-Atlantic Azores archipelago so far (Freitas et al. 2019). When compared to that of other remote oceanic islands (e.g. the Shetlands and Faroes in the colder North Atlantic, and Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the Southern Atlantic), the algal flora of the Azores can be considered relatively rich (Tittley 2003, Neto et al. 2005; Tittley & Neto 2005; Tittley & Neto 2006, Wallenstein et al. 2009). It is a cosmopolitan flora with species shared with Macaronesia, North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Europe and America. Overall, it shares more species with the east Atlantic flora than with the west (Tittley & Neto 2006, Wallenstein et al. 2009). Although São Miguel has been thoroughly investigated, most of the Azorean islands have received little attention, there algal flora being scarcely studied. To overcome this, and improve the understanding of the archipelago’s seaweed flora, research has been conducted over the past three decades. This paper presents both physical and occurrence data, and information gathered from macroalgae surveys undertaken on Graciosa (central group of the archipelago) by the Island Aquatic Research Group of the Azorean Biodiversity Centre of the University of the Azores (https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/sub-team/island-aquatic-ecology) the MARBE, Marine Biodiversity and Environment Research Group of CIBIO-Açores at the University of the Azores (http://cibio.uac.pt/en/research-groups/marbe-marine-biodiversity-and-environment), and the OKEANOS Centre of the University of the Azores (www.okeanos.uac.pt). In these surveys particular attention was given to the small filamentous and thin sheet like forms that are often short-lived and fast-growing species, very difficult to identify in the wild, requiring the aid of a microscope. The paper aims to provide a practical resource for biological studies, such as systematics, diversity and conservation, biological monitoring, climate change and ecology, and also for academics, students, government, private organizations, and the general public.

Purpose In this contribution we list taxonomic records for Graciosa and present general information for the occurrence of each taxon around the island. By doing this, we are contributing to address several biodiversity shortfalls (see Hortal et al. 2015), namely the need to catalogue the Azorean macroalgae (Linnean shortfall) and improve the current information on their local and regional geographic distribution (Wallacean shortfall), as well as on species abundances and dynamics in space (Prestonian shortfall).

Sampling Description

Study Extent

This study covers a relatively large area, approximately 19 km2, encompassing littoral and sublittoral levels down to approximately 40 m around the island of Graciosa.

Sampling

Intertidal collections were made during low tide by walking over the shore. Subtidal collections were made by scuba diving around the area. Sampling involved specimen collecting and species presence recording. For the former, at each location samples were obtained by scraping one or two specimens of all different species found into labelled bags. The species presence recording data was gathered by registering all species present in the sampled locations visited. Complementary data e.g. shore level (high, mid, low), orientation and type of substrate (bedrock, boulders, cobbles, mixed), habitat (tide pool, open rock, gully, crevice, cave) was also recorded.

Quality Control

Each sampled taxon was identified by trained taxonomists and involved morphological and anatomical observations of whole specimens by eye, or of slide preparations under the microscope for the diagnostic features described in the literature. In difficult cases specimens were sent to specialists for identification.

Method steps

Specimens were brought back to the laboratory, sorted and studied following standard procedures used in macroalgae identification. Species identification was based on morphological and anatomical characters and reproductive structures. For small and simple thalli, this required the observation of the entire thallus with the naked eye and/or using dissecting and compound microscopes. For larger and more complex algae, investigation of the thallus anatomy required histological preparations (longitudinal and transverse sections) for the observation of cells, reproductive structures and other diagnosing characters. As the Azorean algal flora has representatives from several geographical regions, often causing difficulty in identification, floras and keys for the North Atlantic, Tropical Atlantic and Western Mediterranean were used (e.g. Schmidt 1931, Taylor 1967, 1978, Levring 1974, Dixon & Irvine 1977, Lawson & John 1982, Irvine 1983, Gayral & Cosson 1986, Fletcher 1987, Afonso-Carrillo & Sansón 1989, Burrows 1991, Boudouresque et al. 1992, Cabioc'h et al. 1992, Maggs & Hommersand 1993, Irvine & Chamberlain 1994, Brodie et al. 2007, Lloréns et al. 2012 and Rodríguez-Prieto et al. 2013). For more critical and taxonomically difficult taxa, specimens were taken to the Natural History Museum (London) for comparison with collections there, or sent to specialists. A reference collection was made for all collected specimens by assigning them an herbarium code number and depositing them at the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha and the Molecular Systematics Laboratory, University of Azores. Depending on the species and on planned further research, different types of collections were made, namely (i) liquid collections using 5% buffered formaldehyde seawater and then replacing it by the fixing agent Kew (Bridsen & Forman 1999); (ii) dried collections, either by pressing the algae (most species) as described by Gayral and Cosson (1986), or by letting them air dry (calcareous species); and (iii) silica gel collections for molecular study. Nomenclatural and taxonomic status used here follow Algaebase (Guiry & Guiry, 2020). The database was organized on FileMaker Pro.

Additional info

Additional information on this study may also be requested to the first author.

Taxonomic Coverages

All macroalgae were identified to genus or species level. In total, 250 taxa were identified belonging to 31 orders and 66 families, distributed by the phyla Rhodophyta (17 orders and 41 families), Chlorophyta (4 orders and 9 families) and Ochrophyta (9 orders and 16 families).

Rhodophyta
common name: Red algae rank: phylum
Chlorophyta
common name: Green algae rank: phylum
Ochrophyta
common name: Brown algae rank: phylum

Geographic Coverages

Graciosa Island, Azores, Macaronesia, Portugal (approximately 39°0′38″N, 27°59′1″W .

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Contacts

Ana Isabel Neto
originator
position: Associate professor with aggregation
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: ana.im.neto@uac.pt
homepage: http://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/anaisabelneto
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0708-5636

Manuela I. Parente
originator
position: Researcher
CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Pólo dos Açores, Universidade dos Açores
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650000
email: manuela.ip.cardoso@uac.pt
homepage: https://cibio.up.pt/people/details/macardoso
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-7155

Andrea Z. Botelho
originator
position: Researcher
CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Pólo dos Açores, Universidade dos Açores
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650000
email: andrea.zc.botelho@uac.pt
homepage: https://cibio.up.pt/people/details/azbotelho
userId: https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5688-2979

Afonso C. L. Prestes
originator
position: Researcher
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: afonso.cl.prestes@uac.pt
homepage: https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/afonsoprestes
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4329-251X

Roberto Resendes
originator
position: Curator at the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650000
email: roberto.resendes@uac.pt

Pedro Afonso
originator
position: Senior Researcher
IMAR/Okeanos – University of the Azores
Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado
Horta
9901-862
Faial, Açores
PT
email: pafonsopim@gmail.com
homepage: http://www.okeanos.uac.pt/equipa
userId: https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-4618-2589

Nuno Vaz Álvaro
originator
position: Researcher
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias, CCMMG (Centro do Clima Meteorologia e Mudanças Globais), IITA-A (Instituto de Investigação e Tecnologias Agrárias e do Ambiente)
Campus de Angra do Heroísmo Rua Capitão João d’Ávlia – Pico da Urze
Angra dp Heroísmo
9700-042
Terceira, Açores
PT
Telephone: +3295 402 200
email: nuno.ms.alvaro@uac.pt
homepage: http://cita.angra.uac.pt/clima/equipa/ver.php?id=245
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6967-7170

David Milla-Figueras
originator
position: Collaborator
Okeanos
Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado
Horta
9901-862
Faial, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351910989920
email: davidmfigueras@gmail.com
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5368-2664

Raul M. A. Neto
originator
position: Collaborator
NA
PT

Ian Tittley
originator
position: Science Associate
Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 5BD
GB
Telephone: 00 44 1227 365671
email: mmit@waitrose.com

Ignacio Moreu
originator
position: Researcher
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
email: nacho.moreu.badia@gmail.com
homepage: https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/Ignacio_Moreu_Badia
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1225-4668

Ana Isabel Neto
metadata author
position: Associate professor with aggregation
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: ana.im.neto@uac.pt
homepage: http://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/anaisabelneto
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0708-5636

Ignacio Moreu
metadata author
position: Researcher
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: nacho.moreu.badia@gmail.com
homepage: https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/Ignacio_Moreu_Badia
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1225-4668

Manuela I. Parente
metadata author
position: Researcher
CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Pólo dos Açores, Universidade dos Açores
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
email: manuela.ip.cardoso@uac.pt
homepage: https://cibio.up.pt/people/details/macardoso
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-7155

Ana Isabel Neto
author
position: Associate professor with aggregation
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: ana.im.neto@uac.pt
homepage: http://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/anaisabelneto
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0708-5636

Ignacio Moreu
author
position: Researcher
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: nacho.moreu.badia@gmail.com
homepage: https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/Ignacio_Moreu_Badia
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1225-4668

Manuela I. Parente
author
position: Researcher
CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Pólo dos Açores, Universidade dos Açores
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
email: manuela.ip.cardoso@uac.pt
homepage: https://cibio.up.pt/people/details/macardoso
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-7155

Ana Isabel Neto
administrative point of contact
position: Associate professor with aggregation
Universidade dos Açores, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Biologia and Grupo de Investigação Aquática Insular, IBBC-GBA/cE3c
Rua da Mãe de Deus, 13-A
Ponta Delgada
9500-321
São Miguel, Açores
PT
Telephone: +351296650567
email: ana.im.neto@uac.pt
homepage: http://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/member/anaisabelneto
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0708-5636