Floristic account of the marine benthic algae from Jarvis Island and Kingman Reef, Line Islands, Central Pacific

Abstract

The marine benthic algae from Jarvis Island and Kingman Reef were identified from collections obtained from the Whippoorwill Expedition in 1924, the Itasca Expedition in 1935, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney in 1938, the Smithsonian Institution’s Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program in 1964 and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006. A total of 124 species, representing 8 Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), 82 Rhodophyta (red algae), 6 Heterokontophyta (brown algae) and 28 Chlorophyta (green algae), are reported from both islands. Seventy-nine and 95 species of marine benthic algae are recorded from Jarvis Island and Kingman Reef, respectively. Of the 124 species, 77 species or 62% (4 blue-green algae, 57 red algae, 2 brown algae and 14 green algae) have never before been reported from the 11 remote reefs, atolls and low islands comprising the Line Islands in the Central Pacific.

Keywords

• Jarvis Island
• Kingman Reef
• Line Islands
• Kiribati
• Marine Benthic Algae
• Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument