DioneandMinerva, two new genera from New Zealand circumscribed for basal taxa in the Bangiales (Rhodophyta)

W.A. Nelson, T.J. Farr and J.E.S. Broom. 2005. Dione and Minerva, two new genera from New Zealand circumscribed for basal taxa in the Bangiales (Rhodophyta). Phycologia 44: 139–145. Two new monospecific genera of filamentous red algae from New Zealand are described, Dione arcuata and Minerva aenigmata (Bangiales, Rhodophyta). Although these taxa conform to the morphological concept of the genus Bangia that is in current use, analyses of nuclear small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene (nSSU) sequences have revealed that these taxa are basal in the order Bangiales and differ significantly from each other and all other filamentous species in the order Bangiales for which nSSU sequence data exist (Broom et al. 2004). Dione arcuata can be distinguished in the field by its width, growth habit and the niche it occupies in the upper subtidal zone, whereas Minerva aenigmata is found on upper intertidal rocks in areas of sand abrasion, and is indistinguishable morphologically from other filamentous Bangiales taxa.