90 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XXII, January 1968 
P. sphaerocarpa var. sphaerocarpa 
Figs. 21, 26 
material examined (Those marked with an 
asterisk are more slender with segments often 
to 2 diameters long and with lateral branches 
slightly to distinctly narrowed at the base; see 
Figure 21): Hawaiian islands — D. 13355*, 
tetrasporic, cystocarpic, spermatangial, awash, 
Sans Souci Beach, Waikiki, Oahu, Oct. 2, 1956; 
D. 19121L1, cystocarpic, dredged 15-26 fa, 
Pokai Bay, Oahu, Aug. 1, 1959; D. 19624.1, 
cystocarpic, Kahanahaiki, Oahu, Jan. 27, 1962; 
a collection* by Isabella Abbott, tetrasporic, 
cystocarpic, on Laurencia sp. and corallines, Ewa 
Beach, Oahu, Mar. 17, 1946; H. 62-3, tetra- 
sporic, cystocarpic, on Acanthophora, Sans Souci 
Beach, Waikiki, Oahu, Dec. 12, 1962; a collec- 
tion by G. F. Papenfuss, tetrasporic, Hanauma 
Bay, Oahu, Mar. 1, 1942; W. A. Setchell, 
10403, cystocarpic, Mokuauia I., off the north- 
east coast of Oahu, July 14, 1924; D. 19738A2, 
tetrasporic, on rocks, Halena, Molokai, Dec. 27, 
1953 ; D. 17184A1, southwest of Kaimu Bay, 
Island of Hawaii, Feb. 27, 1953; D. 17197A1, 
tetrasporic, with other algae, Kalapana Beach, 
Kaimu Bay, Hawaii I., Feb. 2, 1953; H. 65-6.5, 
tetrasporic, in algal turf, Kona District, Hawaii, 
legit M. Kajimura, Jan. 29, 1965 ; tuamotu 
archipelago — D. 11059.1*, tetrasporic, on 
coral reef opposite Ngarumaoa Village, Raroia 
Atoll, legit M. S. Doty and Jan Newhouse, 
July 8, 1952; American Samoa — all but the 
last legit R. Buggeln, 1964: T. 717, cystocarpic, 
on wave-washed basalt at the mouth of Fagasa 
Bay, Tutuila I., Aug. 21; T. 732, spermatangial, 
on Laurencia sp., wave-washed shore, Vista Bay, 
Tutuila, Aug. ; T. 73 5B, tetrasporic, on wave- 
washed shore, Vatia Bay, Tutuila I., Aug. 1 ; 
T. 841, tetrasporic, cystocarpic, on wave-dashed 
shore, in small tidepools, Onenoa, Tutuila, Aug. 
6; W. A. Setchell, 1068 (C. 237033), as P. 
tongatensis Harvey, legit F. A. Potts, from a 
buoy, Pago Pago Harbor, June 10, 1920; gil- 
bert islands — D. 18780, cystocarpic, P . fragi- 
lis as interpreted by Tsuda (1964) on the reef 
south of Rawanawi Village, Marakei Atoll, legit 
M. J. Cooper, July, 1962; marshall islands — 
H. 48-9514.2, tetrasporic, cystocarpic, on Bood- 
lea sp., inner shore, Nama I., Bikini Atoll, July 
15, 1948; Caroline islands — D. 23621, on 
the reef at Utwa Village, Kusiae I., legit E. 
Menez, July 17, I960. 
P. sphaerocarpa var. distans var. nov. 
Fig. 5 E 
Plants as in the species but with intervals of 
(8)— 20— 25 or more segments between succes- 
sive branches and with chromatophores mostly 
aggregated on the inner wall of the pericentral 
cells; trichoblasts relatively coarse, to 365 jj, 
long. 
Plantae ut in species descriptae, intervallis, autem 
(8)-20-25 vel plurim segmentorum inter ramos suc- 
cessivos, et chromatophoris in pariete interiore cellu- 
larum pericentralium plerumque aggregatis; tricho- 
blastae relative grossae, ad 365|ll long. 
type: D. 12384, tetrasporic, cystocarpic, 
awash, Sans Souci Beach, Waikiki, Oahu, Ha- 
waii, Feb. 6, 1954. 
additional collections: D. 19534, tetra- 
sporic, cystocarpic, Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Apr. 6, 
1952. A collection, III BA, spermatangial, by 
T. A. and Anne Stephenson, Plantation Keys, 
Florida, in 1957, seems identical in most details 
with the Pacific specimens, including the dis- 
tant branches and the position of the chromato- 
phores, although the branches are at somewhat 
closer intervals in the case of the Florida speci- 
men. Stephenson III Bb from the same locality 
is very similar, although coarser, and the 
spermatangial branches terminate in a globular 
sterile cell very much like those figured by 
Boergesen (1918: Fig. 279) for a plant he j 
identified as P. ferulacea. This type of male 
structure has been seen several times in plants 
identified by the writer as P. ferulacea , al- 
though the plants bearing them were in other 
respects distinct from P. sphaerocarpa. 
Another variant of P. sphaerocarpa with a | 
sterile tip on spermatangial structures is repre- j 
sented by T. 538, cystocarpic and T. 539, j 
tetrasporic and cystocarpic, on other algae in 
tidepools, Laysan I., (25° 42' N, 171° 44' W) 
Dec. 6, 1963; T. 934B, tetrasporic on coral 
reef, Trig I., French Frigate Shoal, legit C. R. 
Long, Sept. 27, 1964. 
Still another variant is represented by the 
following: D. 13014.2, male, on reef near 
