A new species conforming to the generic description of Sporolithon was found forming small (1–3 cm in diameter) rhodoliths at 18–75 m depth on the eastern coast of Brazil. Sporolithon tenue Bahia, Amado-Filho, Maneveldt et W.H. Adey, sp. nov. differs from other species of Sporolithon in having a thin, primary vegetative thallus of only 45–250 μm in thickness composed of up to 20 cell l…
Tropical kelp populations are rare and anomalous relicts of shallow-water populations that existed during glacial periods of cooler oceanographic climate. The endemic Brazilian tropical kelp,Laminaria abyssalis Joly and Oliveira Filho, occurred at depths below 40 m. The seasonal variations in biological aspects of L. abyssalis sporophyte populations and local variations in seawater nutrients …