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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



coast, fortunately, has received a little attention. 

 A long-neglected set of specimens collected by 

 A. C. V. Schott in 1853-65 came to the attention 

 of the writer. It fell to him to publish on them 

 (1941b), as he had previously studied recent collec- 

 tions by E. U. Clover, E. L. Cheatum, B. Smith, 

 and C. T. Reed (Taylor 1941a). 



Mexico entered the algal records early, with the 

 Yucatdn collection of Liebmann (Agardh 1847) ; 

 numerous other specimens were in the Schott 

 collection when it came to the attention of the 

 writer (1941b); and he has studied Yucatdn 

 material collected by W. C. Steere (Taylor 1935). 

 Other than in these three papers the algae of the 

 Gulf coast of Mexico are unreported. 



Finally, our infonnation regarding the Cuban 

 algal flora is slight. More than a century ago 

 Ramon de la Sagra (Montague 1842) listed 52 

 species, which was very creditable for the time. 

 Farlow (1871), reporting on the collections of 

 Wright, and Castellanos (1945) have dealt with 

 the flora in general terms, while Howe (1918), 

 writing on specimens of the Tomas Barrera Expe- 

 dition, the writer (1941b), on the collections of 

 Schott, and Sanchez Alfonso (1930) with material 

 from the Havana area, have added numerous 

 others. Curiously, the three detailed lists all 

 deal with the flora of the Gulf sector of the coast. 



Respecting work in progress from which future 

 publications may result, it is known that collec- 

 tions have been made in Texas toward an ampli- 

 fication of the known flora of that State. We 

 badly need information on the Mexican sector 

 eastward. Dr. Francis Drouet and Dr. E. Y. 

 Dawson have both collected substantially on the 

 shores of the Gulf, and the latter from Cuba as 

 well, and this material should add much to the 

 exactitude of our knowledge. The Louisiana- 

 northwest-Florida sector, while probably produc- 

 ing only a limited and specialized flora, still needs 

 study. Extension of the Nielsen-Madsen reports 

 would help with respect to northwest Florida. 

 The richer west coast of peninsular Florida (like 

 the northern east coast) needs active fleld work. 

 Cuba is almost completely unknown and will 

 prove rich in variety, though probably few novel- 

 ties are to be expected. The writer has in manu- 

 script an account of tropical flora. Gulf and 

 Caribbean, for which many illustrations have been 

 drawn, but early completion of this is not expected 

 because of the hope of filling obvious gaps in our 



knowledge of the botany of the area. In short, 

 the Gulf coast is the least known, as to marine 

 plants, of the mainland coasts of Mexico and the 

 United States. 



COLLATERAL WORKS OF REFERENCE 

 FOR THE GULF ALGAL FLORA 



Recognizing the absence of any contemporary 

 text to which we can turn for direct information 

 on Gulf algae, we must consider the floras of 

 neighboring areas that are most reliable and help- 

 ful in analyzing the flora of the Gulf itself. It is 

 possible to set up a small working reference shelf, 

 provided the books can be obtained. Therein lies 

 the chief difficulty. Most of them are out of 

 print and seldom appear in the catalogs of 

 secondhand dealers. 



One must distinguish between primary sources 

 of the descriptions and figures of marine algae 

 which have been found in the Gulf area and such 

 floristic works as may be useful for the identifica- 

 tion of specimens in general collections. For the 

 former, we must refer to such works as those of 

 J. G. Agardh (1872-90, 1892-99), of Harvey 

 (1852-58), and the scattered notes of Howe 

 (1905-09). Monographic works dealing with 

 tropical genera will, in many cases, be needed, as 

 those of Barton (1901) on Halimeda and the 

 Gepps (1911) on other Codiaceae in the Siboga 

 reports, and of A. Weber-van Bosse (1898) on 

 Caulerpa from Buitenzorg. For early illustrations, 

 not only these but the famous and regrettably 

 rare Tabulae Phycologicae of Kiitzing (1845-71) 

 will frequently be consulted. For the second 

 purpose, we turn to local floras. 



The most complete West Indian reference work 

 is that of B0rgesen (1913-20) on the former 

 Danish West Indies. Its critical notes and nu- 

 merous illustrations are very valuable, but keys 

 and fonnal descriptions are not provided. Howe's 

 algal flora of the Bahamas (1920) gives keys to 

 some difficult genera, but generally not species 

 descriptions or illustrations. Collins and Hervey 

 (1917), in their Algae of Bermuda give, in addition, 

 critical notes and much useful information on 

 algal habitats, and Collins (1909-18) treats the 

 Chlorophyceae adequately, with keys and brief 

 descriptions. Hoyt (1920), writing of the Beau- 

 fort, N. C, algae, deals with some species also 

 found in the Gulf and gives keys, descriptions, and 

 illustrations. The present writer published, in 



