Contribution to the Marine Algaefrom the Coast of West Pakistan

III. Marine Vaucheria from Karachiby

MOHAMMED NIZAMUDDINDept. of Bot., Univ. of Karachi and Scripps Inst. of Oceanography,

Univ. of California, La Jolla, California

(with 47 figs.)

INTRODUCTION

The marine flora from the coast of West Pakistan has up to nowreceived scant attention; whereas, the marine algae of the outlyingcoast of the Arabian Sea (west coast of India) are fairly well knownthrough the works of BORGESEN (1932, 1934). Only a few specieshave been recorded from Karachi . The lack of information is due toinadequate transportation and the need for qualified persons in thefield. Since 1960, the author has made several collections along thecoast of West Pakistan and these are deposited in the Herbarium,University of Karachi .

The present studies deal with the taxonomy, ecology and distri-bution of marine Vaucheria THUR. along the coast of West Pakistanespecially from Karachi. The following illustrations and descriptionsof each species of Vaucheria are provided as an aid for the fieldworkers who may not have algal literature at their disposal .

SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS

Vaucheriaceae S . F. GRAY 1821Plants coenocytic, aseptate (occasionally septate in marine species),

irregularly or dichotomously branched, filaments forming felt-like

Received December 23rd, 1966 .

465

masses attached by colourless rhizoids ; choroplasts numerous, small ;no pyrenoids; monoecious or dioecious ; oogonia sessile or stalked,globular to ovoid with one egg ; antheridia of different shapes, oftenspirally twisted, sessile, or stalked, or on a special colourless cell(suffultory cell); antherozoids biflagellate and heterokont . Sexualreproduction oogamous ; asexual reproduction by coenozoosporesformed at the end of the branches ; thick-walled akinetes formed;aplanospores large, ellipsoid at the end of the branches .

Vaucheria is represented in smaller numbers in the sea than in freshwater; it is rare along the coast of Karachi . Marine Vaucheria has notyet been reported along the Karachi coast ; it has been reported byBoRGESEN (1934) from Dwarka and by DIxIT (1937) from Bombay .Recently, SAxENA (1962) has reported the occurrence of V. piloboloi-des THUR. in India .

Presently three species of Vaucheria are described and recordedfor the first time.

Vaucheria DE CANDOLLE 1805Plants branched, coenocytic, tufted or loosely entangled, or form-

ing considerable mats; monoecious or dioecious . Filaments gener-ally without cross walls but these occasionally occur ; antheridiacylindrical, sessile or stalked . Oogonia single or in groups, sessile orstalked; oospore (mature ones) spherical containing much stored oil .

Cross walls generally occur in the vegetative as well as in the fertileportions of the filaments .

Key to the species of Vaucheria1. Plants monoecious

V. piloboloidesPlants dioecious

2. Filaments sympodiallybranched V. longicaulisFilaments dichotomouslybranched V. marina

1. Vaucheria piloboloides THURETB6RGESEN 1932:63; 1934:21. BROWN 1929 : 101 .COLLINS 1900 :45; 1909 :429. FELDMANN 1958 : no . 4 .HAUCK 1885 :413. JORDE & KLAVESTAD 1958 :3 .RABENHORST 1868 :272. SAXENA 1962 :40. TAYLOR 1937 :101 ; 1960 :192. THURET in LE JOLIS 1863 :65. VENKATARAMAN 1961 :52 .

Plants monoecious, sparingly branched ; vegetative filament (25-)37-62 ,u broad, average 50 ,u . Oogonia terminal on short branches,clavate, upper part globose; oogonial length (250-) 300-437 ,u,

466

Vaucheria piloboloides THURETFig. 1 . Antheridia and oogonia .2. Filament showing septation .

3. Aplanospore.4. Filament showing swelling .

average 350 ,u ; oogonial diameter 100-240y, average 200,U ; no ring ortransverse septum. Antheridia cylindrico-lanceolate, terminal onshort branches with a terminal and 2-3 lateral cylindrical projections ;antheridia 135-225 x 37-62 ,u, average 150 x 50 ,u ; suffultory cell25-62 ,u long and 37-62 ,u broad, average 47 ,u long and 46 , tbroad. Oospore compressed to globose, 125-175 ,u x 100-137 u,

occasionally round, 125 ,u in diameter, near the apex of the oogonium ;

467

468

5. Antheridia (young) .6, 7. Oospores.

8-16. Stages of Antheridia and oogonia .

oospore wall 12.5 ,u thick. A small pigmented, round body presentslightly above the base of the oogonium, 50y in diameter .Specimens examined: Hawks Bay (NIZAMUDDIN, 31-12-61) .Geographical distribution : Bermuda, North Eastern coast of North

America, west coast of Norway, England, France, MediterraneanSea, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Japan, Adriatic Sea, Germany .

V. piloboloides grows in lower littoral on muddy, soft sand, formingdark green, felted mass . The characteristic feature of the Karachispecimen is the absence of transverse septum and ring - in -the oogo-nium. Before maturation the contents migrate into the inflatedportion; on maturation the contents contract forming a pigmented

body which ultimately becomes compressed to globose ; oospore nearthe apex of the oogonium . Oospore wall 12.5,u thick and composedof two layers which are smooth .

2. Vaucheria longicaulis HOPPOUGHHOPPOUGH 1930:30. SEGAWA & KAMURA 1960 :22.TAYLOR 1952:274. VENKATARAMAN 1961 :49 .Plants dioecious and sparingly branched . Vegetative filaments

17, 19-20. Regeneration of vegetative filament in the spent oogonium .21, 23, 26. Antheridia.

22. Septationn of filament .24. Showing irregular swelling.

25. Branched antheridia.27-31. Development of zoosporangia.

469

470

Vaucheria longicaulis HonroUGH32-36 . Development of oogonia.

37, Aplanospore formation .38-40. Oogonia.41. Oospore .

34-62 (-78) ,u broad, occasionally inflated at some places . Oogoniapyriform, terminal on short branches ; oogonial length (150-) 250-500 (-600) u ; oogonial diameter 100-150 (-190) u ; oospore round100-113 ,u in diameter . Germinating aplanospore (?) 100-135 ,u;antheridia cylindrico-lanceolate, terminal, 310-500 x 50-75 ,u,with a terminal and 2-3 (-4) lateral conical projection ; suffultorycells 25-37 ,u long and 37-50 ,u broad .

Specimens examined : P. N. S. Bahadur, Jetty (NIZAMUDDIN, 16-12-64). Keamari, East Pier (NIZAMUDDIN, 27-12-61) .

Geographical distribution : Bermuda, California, Japan, Pakistan .This species generally grows on wharfs where water is highly

polluted. At East Pier and jetty it was found growing on muddysands. At the low tide it remains exposed to the atmosphere .

In this species antheridia are usually, but not always, separatedfrom the filament by the suffultory cells which are absent. Oogoniaare generally terminal but may be borne at the end of the lateralbranches. Young oogonia are easily distinguishable by the sharpexpansion at the distad from the sporangium . Filaments bearingreproductive organs are occasionally septate . This feature has alsobeen observed in old vegetative filaments .

Vaucheria marina LYNGBYE42. Vegetative filament showing dichotomy .

43-47. Development of oogonia.

471

3. Vaucheria marina LYNGBYEC. AGARDH 1817:47; 1824 :172 . BoRGESEN 1911 :148; 1913:157 .HARVEY 1849 :195; 1857:162 . COLLINS 1909:425 . HAUCK 1885:412 .Plants dioecious, dark green ; filaments dichotomously branched ;

vegetative filaments 37-50 (-63) ,u broad. Oogonia single, cylindrical,terminal on branches ; oogonial diameter 62-100 u; suffultory cells25-62 (-100) ,u long and 50-62 ,u broad. Oospore oblong 150-200 ,ulong and 62-75 It broad. Antheridia not observed .Specimens examined : Keamari (NIZAMUDDIN, 11-1-63) .Geographical distribution : Bermuda, Jamaica, Guadeloupe Is ., Eng-land .This is the first record from Karachi coast and is characterized by

the dichotomous branching of vegetative filaments and oogoniawith suffultory cells . Its identity remains uncertain until the findingsof antheridia; provisionally, these specimens are labeled V. marina .

ABSTRACT

The coast of West Pakistan is represented by three marine Vauche-ria, i .e. V. piloboloides THUR., V. longicaulis Hopp., and V. marinaLYNGBYE . (?) . The latter two species are new records from this area.The ecology and distribution of these species have been described .

REFERENCES

AGARDH, C. A. - 1817 - Synopsis Algarum Scandinav . 175 pp. Lund.AGARDH, C. A . - 1824 - Systema Algarum . 350 pp. Lund.ANAND, P. L . - 1940 - Marine Algae from Karachi . Part I ., Chlorophyceae.

1 : 1-52. Panj. Univ. Bot. Publ. Lahore .BORGESEN, F . - 1911 - Some chlorophyceae from the Danish West Indies . I .

Bot. Tidskr . 31 : 127-152.BORGESEN, F . - 1913 - The Marine algae of the Danish West Indies . Part I .,

Chlorophyceae . Dansk bot . Ark. I, 4: 1-160. Copenhagen.BORGESEN, F . - 1932 - Some Indian green and brown algae especially from the

Presidency of Bombay 11 . .7. Indian Bot. Soc. 11 : 51-70.BORGESEN, F. -1934 - Some marine algae from the northern part of the Arabian

Sea. Dansk Vidensk . Selsk . Biol. Meddel. 11, 6 : 1-72 .BROWN, H . J . - 1929 - The algal family Vaucheriaceae . Trans. Amer. Microsc .

Soc. 48, 1 : 86-117 .COLLINS, F. S . - 1900 - Preliminary lists of new England plants, V. Marine

Algae . Bull. Torrey Bot. Club . 2: 41-52.COLLINS, F . S . - 1909 - The green algae of North America . Tufts Coll. Stud.,

2, 3 : 79-480.DE CANDOLLE, A . P. - 1805 - Flora Francaise. ed. 3, vol . II . Paris .DIXIT, S. C. - 1937 - The chlorophyceae of the Bombay Presidency . India I .

Proc. Indian Acad. Sci . 5 : 12-25 .FELDMANN, J . - 1958 - Les Vaucheria marines et d'eau saumatre des environs

de Roscoff (Finistere) . Soc . d. France. Bull. No. 4.

472

GRAY, S. F . - 1821 - A Natural arrangement of British plants, 1 : 1-824, Pls .1-21. London.

HARVEY, W. H . - 1849 - Manual of the British marine algae . 252 pp . 27 Pls .London.

HARVEY, W. H . - 1857 - Synopsis of British sea weeds, Phycologia Britannica .219 pp. London.

HAUCK, F. - 1885 - Die Meeresalgen Deutschlands and Oesterreichs. Raben-horst's Kryptogamen Flora. 2, 2 : 1-575, 5 Pls . Leipzig.

HoppouGH, K. W. - 1930 - A taxonomic study of species of the genus Vauche-ria, collected in California. Amer . ,7. Bot. 17: 329-347 .

JORDE, I. & KLAVESTAD, N . - 1958 - Marine species of Vaucheria from thecoast of Norway . Univ . Berg. Arb. Nat. Rek . 12 : 1-7.

LINNAEAUS, C . - 1753 - Species Plantarum, ed. I, Stockholm . 1200 pages .LYNGBYE, H. C. - 1819 - Tentamen Hydrophytologiae Danicae . Hafniae .

248 pp . 70 Pls .NEWTON, L . B . - 1931 - A handbook of the British Seaweeds. 478 pp. B. M .

(N.H .) London .RABENHORST, L . - 1868 - Flora Europaea algarum aquae dulcis et submarinae.

Sectio III . S. 1-461. Lipsiae .SAXENA, P . N. - 1962 - Algae of India-2. Vaucheria. Bull. Nat. Bot. Gardn .

70: 1-51 .SEGAWA, S. & KAMURA, S . - 1960 - Marine flora of Ryukyu Island . Biol.

Inst. Ryukyu. 72 pp.TAYLOR, W. R . - 1937 - Marine algae of the northeastern coast of North

America. Univ. Mich. Press, 427 pp .TAYLOR, W. R. - 1952 - Notes on Vaucheria longicaulis HoppouGH . Madrona .

11, 7: 274-277 .TAYLOR, W. R. - 1960 - Marine algae of the Eastern tropical and subtropical

coasts of the Americas . Univ. Mich., Stud. Sci. Ser. 21 : 1-870.,Univ. Mich. Press, Ann Arbor.

THURET, G . - 1863 - In LE JOLIS, A . Liste des algues marines de Cherbourg,Mem. Soc. Imp. Sci. Nat. de Cherbourg . 10, 1 : 1-168 .

VENKATARAMAN, G. S . - 1961 - Vaucheriaceae . I.C.A.R. Monographs onAlgae. 111 pp. New Delhi .

473