Blair and Norris 1988

The deep-water species of Halimeda Lamouroux (Halimedaceae, Chlorophyta) from San Salvador Island, Bahamas: species composition, distribution and depth records

Blair SM, Norris JN

scientific article Coral Reefs
Abstract

Caribbean species of Halimeda from the steep slopes of San Salvador Island, Bahamas, were collected along vertical transects between 25 and 255 m, on the northeast, northwest, west, southwest and south sides of the island, using the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution's submersible Johnson Sea Link I. The characteristics delineating species (segment and utricle size) were assessed for selected species, and the depth and western Atlantic distributions of the species reviewed. Halimeda copiosa was found to show a variation of surface utricle diameter with depth, with the deeper plants having 15% larger diameter utricles than the shallower plants. Of the seven species, one variety and one form of Halimeda studied from our submersible dive sites, H. copiosa, H. cryptica and H. gracilis grew to the greatest depths, from 120 to 150-m depths. H. lacrimosa var. globosa was found growing to 91 m, and H. tuna f. platydisca and H. discoidea to a depth of 73 m. Those of lesser depth, to 61 m, were H. goreauii, H. tuna f. tuna and H. lacrimosa var. lacrimosa. These represent substantial increases in depth distribution of the nine taxa found.

Research Sites
Keywords
Metadata (pending validation)
Depth Range
25–255 m
Mesophotic Mentions
0 × (total of 5166 words)
Classification
  • Presents original data
  • Focused on 'mesophotic' depth range
  • Focused on 'mesophotic coral ecosystem'
Locations
Bahamas
Platforms
Manned Submersible