Gibsmithia hawaiiensis gen. n. et sp. n . 1 
Maxwell S. Doty 2 
ABSTRACT: A new genus, Gibsmithia, is described and tentatively placed in the 
Dumontiaceae of the red algal order Cryptonemiales. Its diagnostic features are: 
possession of auxiliary cells in specialized filaments separate from those bearing 
the carpogonia; the known sexual structures occurring in sori at the tips of soft, 
gelatinous branches which arise from perennial round stems so as to form a hemi- 
spherical head; cruciate tetraspores borne on filaments protruding from the surface 
of the branches and these same branch filaments often bearing terminal seirospores. 
The type species of the genus is G. hawaiiensis , known only from the island of 
Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. 
THE ALGA described here was first collected by 
Dr. J. T. Conover in 1943, and from 1951 on 
has been found by eight other individuals col- 
lecting in Hawaii. It seems to comprise a new 
genus of the Cryptonemiales in the Rhodo- 
phyta, and we take pleasure in naming it in 
honor of the late Prof. G. M. Smith, of Stan- 
ford University, whose publications and teach- 
ings have probably done more to facilitate work 
with the algae in America than has the work 
of any other phycologist. 
Gibsmithia hawaiiensis genus et species nova 
Figs. 1-17 
DESCRIPTIO TYPI: Thalli ramis gelatinosis 
fasciculatis, e stipite erecto fere cartilaginose 
lignoso egredientibus, formam hemisphaericam 
simulantes. Frondes e filamentis uniseriatis, 
sicut in genere Callithamnio, compositae. Fila- 
menta interdum pilis uniseriatis, multicellulari- 
bus e superficie gelatinosa ramorum exstanti- 
bus terminata. Tetrasporangia cruciformiter di- 
visa, subsphaerica, in pilis supra descriptis uni- 
1 Contribution No. 190 from the Hawaii Marine 
Laboratory. Received for publication February 26, 
1962. This study was made possible by funds from the 
U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (contract AT-f04- 
31-15) and the Graduate Research Committee of the 
University of Hawaii. Dr. Hannah Crossdale prepared 
the Latin diagnosis. 
2 Department of Botany, University of Hawaii, 
Honolulu 14, Hawaii. 
lateraliter in cymulis fortasse velut in genere 
Spermothamnio producta, Cystocarpia mo do 
Cryptonemialium simili crescentia. 
The holotype (Fig. 1) was found drifting 
in the water at Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu, Ha- 
waii (21° 161 min N, 157° 49.5 min W), on 
January 12, I960; 19263. 3 It is cystocarpic. The 
type material, consisting of a liquid-preserved 
isotype specimen and a dried holotype her- 
barium specimen, is being deposited in the Ber- 
nice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. 
Tetrasporic material has been collected from 
the vertical surface of ■ a dredge-cut in the reef 
at Waikiki, first on January 5, 1961, by Dr. 
D. W. Strasburg. This specimen (8525) is also 
being deposited in the Bishop Museum her- 
barium. Other collections are listed below. 
DESCRIPTION OF GENUS AND SPECIES: Thalli 
(Figs. 1, 2), as generally collected, consisting 
of 'woody’ stems and a number of soft, but not 
slippery, gelatinous ultimate branches. Forming 
bright-pink, hemispherical tufts often 8 cm 
high, the stems are up to 3 mm in diameter, 
blackish when dried, and they bear rings be- 
lieved to be indicative of successive crops of 
the ultimate branches. The stems are cylindrical 
or, when large, compressed toward the apex 
and sometimes branched once or twice. When 
the stems are fresh they are colored approxi- 
mately Eugenia Red or darker to Acajou Red 
3 Such 4- and 5 -digit numbers are the collection or 
herbarium numbers of the author. 
458 
