Neotypification and Taxonomic Status of Opephyllum martensii Schmitz in Schmitz et Hauptfleisch (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta) from Zamboanga, Southern Philippines

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Abstract
The monotypic delesseriaceous genus Opephyllum was created by Schmitz in Schmitz and Hauptfleisch for O. martensii, represented by a single collection from Zamboanga on the southwestern tip of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. As the type specimen or collection is no longer in existence, we are neotypifying the taxon based on recent topotype collections made in the spring of 1998. After comparison of this material with species of Martensia from the Indo-Pacific region and Caribbean Sea based on morphological evidence and sequence analysis of chloroplast-encoded rbcL and the nuclear-encoded large subunit ribosomal DNA gene (LSU rDNA), we conclude that Opephyllum is not generically distinct from Martensia despite its lack of the reticulate fenestrations that characterize fronds of every other species of the latter.We therefore propose the new combination Martensia martensii (Schmitz in Schmitz et Hauptfleisch) Lin, Fredericq et Liao for this rare member of the tribe Martensieae, subfamily Nitophylloideae.