New and interesting seaweed records from the Hakai area of the central coast of British Columbia: Phaeophyceae

After 13 years of intensive sampling of seaweeds in the Hakai area of the central coast of British Columbia, we report on our collection of 67 of the approximately 100 brown algal species expected in the area based on known distributions. Most of these 67 species are distributed broadly in the northeast Pacific region. They were identified morphologically using primary and secondary literature and by sequencing the COI (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) gene in most instances. Laminaria yezoensis is recorded near its southern distribution limit, and Dictyoneurum reticulatum is recorded at its northern distribution limit. Although drift specimens of Postelsia palmaeformis have washed ashore, the species has not been found growing on Calvert Island but rather on the mainland just to the southeast. A number of species are reported for the first time in the northeast Pacific: we identified Hecatonema terminale, based on efforts to sequence several host species of red algae, an undescribed species of Acinetosporaceae previously identified erroneously as Hincksia granulosa that still requires a name, and undescribed species of Pylaiella and Ectocarpus. We describe as new to science Protohalopteris petersonii and Petrospongium munckiae and note a number of other species that require work before they can be identified to species, including a Ralfsia-like crust in the Chordariaceae. Distinctive haplotypes were found in at least four species, contributing to the uniqueness of this area.