First Record of Ulva kanagawae V.Carneiro, N.T.Martins & Cassano (Ulvales, Chlorophyta) from Japan

Abstract

A brackishwater green macroalga collected from a small watercourse along the shore of Chichijima island, Ogasawara Islands, Japan was identified as Ulva kanagawae V.Carneiro, N.T.Martins & Cassano (Ulvaceae, Ulvophyceae) using the rbcL and tufA DNA sequences. Morphology of the alga from the Chichijima Island agrees with the original description of U. kanagawae in having unique twisted spirally and coiled, compressed, narrow ribbon-like thalli (less than 2 mm in width), profuse branching in the basal region, and multiseriate apices of the branches. This species, originally described in 2023 from São Paulo, Brazil, had not previously been recorded from the Pacific region.