ABSTRACT The association between epizoic algae and animals is well known, and turtles are among the animals that most commonly host epibiont communities. The most studied algal component of the epizoic communities found on turtles is represented by diatoms, while other algal taxa, like the Rhodophyta, are less investigated. During a survey started to study the epibionts associated with loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, cared for at the WWF Sea Turtle Rescue Center of Lampedusa Island (Sicily, Italy), specimens of Rhodomelaceae (Rhodophyta) were collected for taxonomic investigation. The resulting vegetative, reproductive, and molecular data of those specimens characterised the new species described here as Melanothamnus testudinis sp. nov. We also evaluated the holotype of Polysiphonia carettia Hollenberg, an epibiont of C. caretta reported from the Mediterranean Sea. This investigation confirmed the distinction of M. testudinis from P. carettia and suggested that previous Mediterranean and Canarian records of the latter species are probably M. testudinis.

中文翻译：

---

Melanothamnus testudinis sp. 的分子和形态特征。十一月 (Rhodophyta, Rhodomelaceae) 及其与 Polysiphonia carettia 的区别

摘要 表生藻类与动物之间的关联是众所周知的，海龟是最常承载表生群落的动物之一。在海龟身上发现的生代群落中研究最多的藻类成分是硅藻，而其他藻类分类群，如红藻，研究较少。在开始研究与红海龟相关的表皮生物的调查期间，Caretta caretta 在兰佩杜萨岛（意大利西西里岛）的世界自然基金会海龟救援中心得到照顾，收集了红梅科（Rhodophyta）的标本进行分类调查。这些标本的营养、繁殖和分子数据将这里描述的新物种定性为 Melanothamnus testudinis sp。十一月 我们还评估了 Polysiphonia carettia Holllenberg 的正模，它是 C. caretta 从地中海报道。这项调查证实了 M. testudinis 与 P. carettia 的区别，并表明后者物种的先前地中海和加那利记录可能是 M. testudinis。