Catalog of the Benthic Marine Algae of the ... - SeaweedAfrica

Later Starting Points in CYANOPHYCEAE
The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
(ICBN; Voss et al., 1983) states that nomenclature for the
Nostocales begins with the monographs of Bornet and Flahault
(1886-1888) and Gomont (1892-1893). (The ICBN
assigns an arbitrary date of 1886 and 1892, respectively, to
these monographs.) An enormous body of taxonomic information
about blue-green algae had been published before
those distinguished French phycologists wrote their monographs.
According to the ICBN, pre-starting point taxonomy
may be retained, but pre-starting point nomenclature
does not exist. This legalistic nonsense, rather than simplify
the nomenclature of blue-green algae, has introduced hopeless
confusion. Even those (like Drouet) who profess to
follow the ICBN with regard to later starting points are
inconsistent. Names treated as synonyms in the starting
point monographs are invalid according to the ICBN, but
Drouet (1968:14) pointed out that all such names presumably
have been validated subsequently "by reference or by
a new description." Lacking the time to "search through
thousands of local floras, check-lists of species, and morphological,
ecological, and physiological papers", Drouet
treated those older names "as having been validly and
autonomously published, not as synonyms, but by reference
to their original descriptions'' in the starting point monograph
and subsequent publications.
In view of the facts that Drouet has located the types of
the majority of blue-green algal species and that blue-green
algal taxonomy is in an extraordinary state of flux, it seems
pointless to attempt to accommodate their nomenclature to
later starting points. Oscillatoria submembranacea is an example
of the needless complications caused by the use of
later starting points. This species was first described by
Ardissone and Strafforello (1877) as Oscillaria submembranacea.
In Gomont (1892), the starting point monograph for
Oscillatoria, it was treated as Phormidium submembranaceum.
In accordance with normal nomenclature, this name would
be written Phormidium submembranaceum (Ardissone and
Strafforello) Gomont, but Article 13.1 of the ICBN renders
pre-starting point nomenclature invalid, so that the name
must be ascribed solely to Gomont and dated from 1892,
not 1877. Drouet (1968:203) transferred the species to
Oscillatoria, but incorrectly attributed it directly to Ardissone
and Strafforello (considering Oscillaria and Oscillatoria
as orthographic variants, an equivocal interpretation). In
accordance with later starting points, it should be written
Oscillatoria submembranacea (Gomont) Drouet!
Nomenclatural Notes
by Paul C. Silva
127
In the long course of compiling the Index Nominum
Algarum (since 1948), I repeatedly struggled with the complications
of later starting points and eventually concluded
that it was impractical to continue to do so. The present
catalog is my first opportunity to make the iconoclastic
move of basing the nomenclature of blue-green algae uniformly
on the Linnaean starting date, 1753.
The Taxonomy of Acrochaetioid Algae
The confused taxonomy of acrochaetioid algae was thoroughly
reviewed by Woelkerling (1983a), who expressed
personal preference for either of two classifications: a monogeneric
scheme using the oldest available name, Audouinella
Bory de Saint-Vincent (1823:340, "Auduinella"); or a polygeneric
scheme based solely on the type of life history
without regard for vegetative features. Woelkerling concluded:
"In the short term, it seems to me that it is more
important to accumulate detailed, trustworthy data on numerous
species than to engage in endless manipulation of
generic schemes. Use of either of the above two schemes
would provide a workable taxonomic framework while new
studies are being carried out."
The decision as to which classification would best serve
the purposes of this catalog was based on the following
considerations. Papenfuss (1945), in trying to delineate the
South African acrochaetioid algae, concluded that it was
possible to distribute them among four genera on the basis
of the number and form of the cloroplasts in each vegetative
cell, as follows:
Rhodochorton, few to many small, discoid chloroplasts;
Acrochaetium, one parietal or laminate chloroplast;
Audouinella, one or more spiral chloroplasts; and
Chromastrum, one or more stellate chloroplasts.
It soon became apparent that the distinction drawn by
Papenfuss between Acrochaetium and Chromastrum was difficult
to maintain, partly because he (and many subsequent
workers) confused form with position. A chloroplast with a
stellate form may be axile or parietal in position. There are
intermediate situations with regard to both form and position.
Feldmann (1962) proposed that Acrochaetium include
plants whose cells contain a single chloroplast of either form
or position. Woelkerling (1971), believing that vegetative
characters are of diagnostic value only at the species level,
placed all acrochaetioid algae with sexual stages in one
genus, Audouinella. He referred those without sexual stages
to Colaconema Batters (1896:8), which he treated as a form