Trentepohliales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) from Panama

The green algal order Trentepohliales represents one of the most diverse and widespread groups of terrestrial algae in tropical regions; however, little published information on this group is available for Central and tropical South America. The diversity and distribution of these algae in central Panama were investigated in the course of a fieldtrip in May 2007. At the time of the survey species of Trentepohliales were a quantitatively dominant component of the terrestrial microalgal vegetation, being widespread on a large variety of natural and artificial substrata. Collections made from three sites (Barro Colorado Island, Gamboa and Summit Garden) revealed the presence of at least 24 taxa (1 Cephaleuros, 6 Phycopeltis, 4 Printzina and 13 Trentepohlia species). Two species (Trentepohlia minima and T. treubiana) were new records for the Americas. Other interesting records included Printzina bosseae, Trentepohlia chapmanii, T. depressa and T. dusenii, species rarely recorded in the Americas. Several taxa could not be identified unambiguously and we believe that some of these probably represent undescribed species, for which an assessment based on molecular data will be needed.