Credit: Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, Number 117. Smithsonian Scholarly Press.

Part II of the Marine Benthic Algal Flora of Puerto Rico has been published and is partly based on NCCOS-supported research in shallow and mesophotic coral ecosystems. Part II features green algae in the phylums Chlorophyta and Prasinodermatophyta, and provides information on 150 algal species occurring in the benthic marine communities of Puerto Rico. Published in 2021, Part I focused on 77 brown algal species in the phylum Ochrophyta. Both studies provide details on the distribution of each species, their habitat, and taxonomic and nomenclature status.

The study builds on the work of the lead author, Dr. David L. Ballantine of the Smithsonian Institution, formerly of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. The first complete list of the marine benthic algal flora of Puerto Rico was compiled by Almodóvar and Ballantine (1983) and reported 384 species (excluding the Cyanophyta). Ballantine and Aponte (1997) revised this list and recognized 473 species. A subsequent 2002 revision, A Checklist of the Benthic Marine Algae Known to Puerto Rico, recorded 492 species of algae, including macroscopic Chrysophyceae and Xanthophyceae from Puerto Rico (excluding the Cyanophyta).

This study was supported in part by NCCOS under the Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CRES) and Deep Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (Deep-CRES) Programs. 

References Cited:

• Almodóvar, L. R. and D. L. Ballantine. 1983. Checklist of Benthic Marine Macroalgae plus Additional Species Records from Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 19: 7–20.
• Ballantine, D. L. and N. E. Aponte. 1997. A Revised Checklist of the Benthic Marine Algae Known to Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 33: 150–179.
• Ballantine, David L. and Nilda E. Aponte, 2002. A Checklist of the Benthic Marine Algae Known to Puerto Rico, Second Revision. Constancea 83.8.