ADDITION TO THE FRESHWATER ALGAE OF NEW ZEALAND - 1 A NOTE ON THE SPECIES OF VAUCHERIA FROM GREAT BARRIER ISLAND. by Pranjit Sarma* SUMMARY

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1 167 ADDITION TO THE FRESHWATER ALGAE OF NEW ZEALAND - 1 A NOTE ON THE SPECIES OF VAUCHERIA FROM GREAT BARRIER ISLAND by Pranjit Sarma* SUMMARY Three terrestrial species of Vaucheria are described in this note, along with their distribution. V. pachyderma Walz is recorded for the first time with a known locality from New Zealand. V. hamata (Vauch.) DC. is a new record for New Zealand, and V. jaoi Ley is recorded probably for the first time from the Southern Hemisphere. INTRODUCTION Very little information is available about the freshwater algae of New Zealand in general, and that of Great Barrier Island in particular. During a trip organized by the Auckland University Field Club (August 21 to 28, 1972) a number of samples were collected from freshwater and sub-aerial habitats from the Whangaparapara, Mt. Hobson, and Blind Bay areas. After preliminary observation it was found that many of the algae which occur in the island arc either new to science or new records for New Zealand. In this note only three species of Vaucheria are described, two being new records for New Zealand. In the genus Vaucheria, only six species and a variety are known from New Zealand. Species recorded from freshwater habitats are: 1. V. dillwynii Ag. (= V. pachyderma Walz) recorded by Hooker (1867, p. 714), but no locality mentioned. 2. V. geminata (Vauch.) DC. recorded by Thompson (Chapman et al. 1957, p. 729) from Middlemore Pool. Auckland. 3. V. sessilis (Vauch.) DC. var. hookeri Kutz recorded by Nordstedt (1888, p. 22) from Waimakariri, Teremakau, Arahura, Hutt Valley and Blueskin Bay. This species was also recorded by Spencer (1882, p. 303) from Ruataniwha. Chapman (1956, p ) recorded this species from a marine habitat, together with three other species: V. thuretii Woron., V. synandra Woron. and a new species, V. pseudosessilis. Nordstedt (loc. cit.) however, recorded another species from Blueskin Bay which he identified as being near to V. terrestris (Vauch.) DC. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES The species of Vaucheria from Great Barrier Island fall into three different Sections: * Department of Botany, University of Auckland.

168 Section: Globiferae Heidinger 1. V, pachyderma Walz (Figs. 4, 5, 13 & 14) (Hoppaugh 1930, p. 334, pi. 23, fig. 6&7;Prescott 1962, p. 293. pi. 67, fig. 2; Venkataraman 1961, p. 66, fig.

2 168 Section: Globiferae Heidinger 1. V, pachyderma Walz (Figs. 4, 5, 13 & 14) (Hoppaugh 1930, p. 334, pi. 23, fig. 6&7;Prescott 1962, p pi. 67, fig. 2; Venkataraman 1961, p. 66, fig. 44; Yamagishi 1959, p. 77, fig. 5 & 6). Monoecious; thallus well-branched, y broad; oogonium single with distinct beak, globose or ellipsoid, mostly parallel to the thallus, horizontally y, vertically y; wall spotted; oospore filling the oogonium, horizontally 74-99/u, vertically 68 90y; antheridium develops beside the oogonium, hooked, sometimes sac4ikc, 24 y broad. This is the first record of the species with a known locality from New Zealand. Collection No: P. Sarma No. 289, August 27, 1972, from soil, Whangaparapara, Great Barrier Island. Distribution outside New Zealand: Bangladesh, China, Europe, Japan and U.S.A. Section: Corniculatae Walz Sub-section: Racemosae Walz 2. V. hamata (Vauch.) DC. (Figs. 1-3, 9, 11 & 13) (Blume 1953, (as V. hamata sensu Gotz) p , fig ; Hoppaugh 1930, p.341, pi.26, fig. 12 & 13; Islam 1965, (as V. hamata Walz) p.53, pi.5, fig. 1-15; Prescott 1962, p. 292; Saxena 1962, p. 33, fig. 10; Venkataraman 1961, (as V. hamata Walz) p. 85, fig. 62; Yamagishi 1959, p. 82, fig. 16 & 17. Monoecious; thallus profusely branched, sometimes septate, y broad; fruiting branches having more or less same diameter, bear 1-2 oogonia and a single antheridium, often showing proliferations; oogonium mostly ovoid, sometimes a little curved at one side, y broad, y long; oospore filling the oogonium, wall thick, few layered (in some specimens, the wall appears crenulate?), y broad, y long, antheridium cercinate and coiled, y broad; both antheridium and oogonium bent in the same direction. This is the first record of the species from New Zealand. Collection Nos: P. Sarma Nos. 228, 229 and 289, August 22-27, 1972, from soil, Whangaparapara, Great Barrier Island. Distribution outside New Zealand: Bangladesh, China, Europe, India Japan, and U.S.A. Section: Pseudoanomalae Jao & Ley 3. V. jaoi Ley (Figs. 6-8, 10 & 12) (Ley 1944, p. 92, fig. (i) a c; Venkataraman 1961 (as V. jaoi (Ley) Jao & Ley p. 93, fig. 70) Monoecious; thallus sparsely branched, y broad, sometimes septate; branches mostly at right angles to the main thallus; oogonium obliquely sub-ovate, sessile or very shortly stalked, with prominent beak; long axis parallel or inclined to the supporting branch, horizontally 52-61y, and vertically y; pore circular; oospore completely filling the oogonium, horizontally p. and vertically 37-44y; antheridium short, cylindrical 16 p. broad, often terminates the fruiting branch and opens by a circular (?) pore.

3 Figs. 1-3 Vaucheria hamata (Vauch.) DC. showing oogonia (single oogonium in Fig. 1) and the coiled antheridium. Figs. 4-5 V. pachyderma Walz with antheridium and matured <X)spore. Figs. 6-8 V. jaoi Ley showing matured oospore and the antheridium.

4 Fig: 9. V. hamata (Vauch.) D.G. x 200. Fig: 10 V. jaoi Ley x 800. Fig. 11. V. hamata (Vauch.) D.C. x 325. Fig: 12. V. Jaoi Ley x 540.

5 Fig: 14. V. pachyderma Walz x 540.

6 172 This is the first record of the species from New Zealand. Collection Nos: P. Sarma Nos. 228 & 229, August 22, 1972, from Whangaparapara, Great Barrier Island. Distribution outside New Zealand: China soil, DISCUSSION Vaucheria pachyderma Walz was recorded by Hooker (loc. cit.) as V. V. hamata (Vauch.) DC, was subsequently collected from various places in the North and South Islands and seems to be very common. It appears, from an examination of a large number of subsequent collections of V. hamata (Vauch.) DC, thai the species recorded by Nordstedt (loc. cit.) and identified as near to V. terrestris (Vauch.) Lyngb. was most probably V. hamata (Vauch.) DC. However, it is to be noted that Venkataraman (1961) in his recent monograph (on a world basis), has not mentioned any species of Vaucheria from New Zealand. The author has not come across any report of the occurrence of V. jaoi Ley, from outside China. This is probably the first record of the species from the Southern Hemisphere. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to Prof. V.J. Chapman for critically reading the manuscript, and for his constant encouragement during the course of this investigation. Thanks are also due to Miss Wanda Fabia for typing the manuscript, and to the members of the Auckland University Field Club who organized the trip to Great Barrier Island. REFERENCES Blume, J.L. 1953: The Racemose Vaucheriaceae with inclined or pendent oogonia. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 80 (6): Chapman, V.J. 1956: Revision of the marine algae of New Zealand. Part 1: Myxophyceae and Chlorophyceae. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bol 55: Chapman, V.J., Segar, E^.C.M., Thompson, R.ll. 1957: Check list of the freshwater algae of New Zealand. Trans. Roy. Soc. N.Z. 84 (4): Hooker, J.I). 1867: "Handbook of the New Zealand flora." London. 798 pp. Hoppaugh, K.W. 1930: A taxonomic study of species of the genus Vaucheria collected in California. Amer. Jour. Bot. 1 7 (5): Islam, A.K.M.N. 1965: Taxonomic study of the species of Dichotomosiphon and Vaucheria found in East Pakistan. Proc. Pak. Acad. Sci. 2 (1): Nordstedt, O. 1888: Freshwater algae collected by Dr S. Berggren in New Zealand and Australia. Kongl. Svensk. Veten. - Akad. Handl. 22 (8): 1-98.

7 173 Ley, S.H. 1944: The Vaucheriaceae from Northern Kwangtung, China. Sinesia 15 (1-6): Prescott, G.W. 1962: "Algae of the Western Great Lakes area." Wm. C. Brown. 977 pp. Saxena, P.N. 1962: Al;-ae of India - 2. Vaucheriaceae. Bull. Nat. Bot. Gardens No. 70: Spencer, W.I. 1882: Notes on freshwater algae of New Zealand Tram. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 15: Venkatai iman G.S. 1961: "Vaucheriaceae." I) Jian Council of Agricultural Research, New Del!,,. 112 pp. Yamagishi, T. 1959: Genus F, ria in Japan. Jour. Jap. Bot. 34 (3):

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A NOTE ON THE ALGAL BLOOM AT KAWERUA COAST, NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND. by Pranjit Sarma*

TANE 21, 1975 A NOTE ON THE ALGAL BLOOM AT KAWERUA COAST, NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND by Pranjit Sarma* Phytoplankton blooms are not uncommon in the coastal waters of New Zealand. Cassie and Cassie 1 studied