Diversity of the Laurencia complex (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) in Lusitanian Macronesia

10th International Phycological Congress, Orlando, Florida, USA, 4-10 de agosto 2013.Our aim was to investigate the diversity of the Laurencia complex in the Azores, Madeira, Salvagens and Canary Islands, Atlantic oceanic archipelagos, which belong to the same ecoregion, Lusitanian province of the Macaronesian region. We assessed the species limits among members of the complex using DNA barcode data (partial sequences of mitochondrial COI and nuclear LSU markers). The information obtained from the analyses of COI and LSU sequences was consistent; both markers displayed adequate signal for the delineation of species. In addition, preliminary phylogenetic analyses were completed using three independent markers (rbcL, LSU, and COI) as well as the combined data set, in the aim to infer the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic affinities of members of the complex from Macaronesia. Our results revealed the existence of several putative new species and a potential new genus included in the Laurencia complex. Prior the proposition of new taxa, more thorough morphological and molecular analyses of specimens of type localities, together with the results obtained in our study, are essential to assign the available taxonomic name to the different species uncovered in our studies