Numerical classification of the Pacific forms of Chlorodesmis (Chlorophyta)

Abstract

The boundaries of the green algal genus Chlorodesmis are ill defined, and the reported species appear to overlap widely. Fourreen specimens of the large-celled (Pacific) forms have been subjected to critical examination; the specimens had previously been ascribed to three genera and eight species. Six characters (one qualitative, three 3-state, and two numerical) have been used; the numerical characters, for which measures of variation are available, have been subjected to a conventional statistical examination, and all six characters have been used in an analysis of the data by means of the mixed-data classificatory programme MULTIST on the Control Data 3600 at Canberra. The results strongly suggest that the specimens are referable to a single genus with only four species: C. caespitosa J. Agardh, C. comosa Harvey & Bailey, C. major Zanardini, and C. bulbosa (Womersley) Ducker.