The life histories ofRhodochorton purpureumandRhodochorton floridulum(Rhodophyta, Nemaliales) in culture

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Abstract
Material of Rhodochorton purpureum (Lightf.) Rosenv. and R. floridulum (Dillw.) Näg. from the European Atlantic coast was cultured in the laboratory and the life histories of these species were established. The life history of R. purpureum proved to agree in almost every aspect with earlier findings on this species; the life history of R. floridulum shows a resemblance to that of R. purpureum, in that no free carpospores are produced, but the pattern of post-fertilization development is simpler in R. floridulum: the tetrasporophyte develops directly from the fertilized carpogonium, and no morphologically distinct carposporophyte is present. The special pattern of life history in these Rhodochorton species is thought to warrant the maintenance of such species in a separate genus within the Acrochaetiaceae.