Confirming the presence of two brown algae Stoechospermum polypodioides and Spatoglossum crassum as new record of Dictyotaceae in the Persian Gulf based on molecular and morphological analysis

Abstract

All <em>Spatoglossum</em> and <em>Stoechospermum</em> species in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, Iran, have been so far identified via classical taxonomy. In this study classification of two genus of brown algae (Dictyotaceae) including <em>Spatoglossum</em> and <em>Stoechospermum</em> have been investigated. We combined the cytoplasmic DNA sequences data of plastid<em> rbc</em>L and <em>psbA</em> with morphological information. Based on the constructed phylogenetic trees on the sequences data of these two genes the collected specimens from the Iranian coastlines made two distinct clades which were grouped with two species <em>Stoechospermum polypodioides</em> and <em>Spatoglossum crassum</em> with high to full bootstrap values. So we approved the presence of <em>Stoechospermum polypodioides</em> and <em>Spatoglossum crassum</em> as new record for the algal flora of Persian Gulf in Iranian coastlines.