MORPHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY, PLASTICITY, AND SPECIES DIAGNOSABILITY IN THE APPLICATION OF OLD SPECIES NAMES IN DNA-BASED TAXONOMIES

摘要

A paper by Belton et al. (2013) published in this issue of the Journal of Phycology addresses species boundaries in the Caulerpa racemosa–peltata complex. Caulerpa is a member of the siphonous green algae (order Bryopsidales), which consist of a single giant cell that forms a simple tube or one that branches to form a range of morphologies, from very simple branched tubes to much more complex architec-tures consisting of a medulla and cortex that can display elaborate macromorphological features (Hillis-Colinvaux 1984, Verbruggen et al. 2009a).