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Genetic evidence for the identity of Caulerpa racemosa (Forsskal) J. Agardh (Caulerpales, Chlorophyta) in the Adriatic sea

Three taxa of Caulerpa racemosa that differ morphologically and genetically have been reported in the Mediterranean Sea. The "invasive variety" was recorded for the first time in the early 1990s in Libya. In less than 10 years, it was found in almost all 15 parts of the Mediterranean. The first record of C. racemosa in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea was in 2000 and as many as 35 different localities were established by the end of 2004. In terms of morphology, the specimens from the Adriatic Sea resemble the "invasive variety". To confirm this, we analysed populations from two different localities (the island of Mljet and the peninsula of Peljesˇ ac) using the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of 18S-5.8S-26S rDNA unit as a molecular marker. The ITS1-5.8SITS2 region from nine individual plants was amplified by PCR, cloned in a pCR 2.1 vector and sequenced. Phylogenetic 20 comparison of sequences from specimens found in the Adriatic Sea with specimens of the same and similar taxa, found both inside and outside the Mediterranean, provided genetic evidence that C. racemosa populating the Adriatic Sea corresponds to the Mediterranean C. racemosa var. cylindracea (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman et Boudouresque, i.e. to the "invasive variety".

Adriatic Sea; Caulerpa racemosa; genetic polymorphism; invasive algae; ITS1-ITS2; molecular phylogeny; rDNA; taxonomy

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