ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF Halimedtt 157 



are well developed, and retain their shape on decalcification as do those 

 of other Halimeda species. The plastids in the material studied were 

 generally conspicuously denser in the utricles of the hghted surface. 



H. Species of uncertain systematic position 



Authentic specimens have not been located for four described 

 species which can therefore not be placed in the system. 



Halimeda irregularis Lamouroux 

 Halimeda irregularis Lamouroux (1816), p. 307, Fig. 7. 

 Type locality. Antilles, West Indies. 



Halimeda nervata Zanardini 

 Halimeda nervata Zanardini (1858), p. 289, Plate 12, Fig. 2. 



Type specimen. Collected by Portier in the Red Sea. 



Halimeda papyracea Zanardini 



Halimeda papyracea Zanardini (1851), p. 37; Zanardini (1858), p. 288, 

 Plate 13, Fig. 2. 



Type specimen. Collected by Portier in the Red Sea. 



Halimeda rectangularis J. Agardh 

 Halimeda rectangularis J. Agardh (1894), p. 100. 

 Type locality. Austraha. 



V. Culture 



Serious attempts to culture Halimedae and their relatives apparently 

 date from the 1960s. Techet (1908) showed that tuna could be kept in 

 aquaria supplied with seawater at a marine station. In addition, very 

 many coral reef organisms, including Halimedae, were kept for short 

 times in aquaria at the Discovery Bay Laboratory in Jamaica by Dr 

 T. F. Goreau in the early 1960s. This suggested that HaHmedae could 

 be grown in aquaria, if necessary, far from the sea. This has been done 

 (Colinvaux et al., 1965), and Halimedae have been maintained at inland 

 laboratories for over two years, in both natural and artificial seawater. 



