study of the genus Acanthophora (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta)

Acladistic analysis, based on a taxonomic revision is carried out for 7 Acanthophoraspecies using 19 characters. Hypotheses on species affinities are based primarily on morphological characters. Because most species show only few distinctive characters, emphasis was placed onfeatures of spine development, either in relation tovegetative or toreproductive structures. Global distribution of 7 Acanthophoraspecies: viz. A. aokii, A. dendroides,A. muscoides,A. nayadiformis,A. pacifica, A. ramulosa, andA. spicifera, shows a discontinuous pattern. Althoughwidely distributed species are present (A. muscoides and A. spicifera), a disjunct distribution of other species occurs in the Pacific (A. aokii),Indian Ocean (A. dendroides), East-Atlantic region (A. ramulosa), and the Mediter-ranean and Red Sea (A. nayadiformis). Information on the historical background of the species distribution can be inferred from the obtained phylogenetic tree