Bast, FelixJohn,Aijaz A.Bhushan, Satej2018-07-102024-08-132018-07-102024-08-132015Bast, F., John, A.A. and Bhushan, S. (2015) Cladophora goensis- a bloom forming marine algae from Goa, India. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences.http://10.2.3.109/handle/32116/1043A new species of green seaweed, Cladophora goensis sp. nov. (Cladophorales, Ulvophyceae), had been discovered in our last field trip to Vasco-da-Gamma, Goa, India. This species formed algal bloom of moderate intensity in the Bay of Mormugao, on the west coast of India. Our observations suggest combination of a number of morphological characteristics of this alga distinct from previously described members of this genus, including parietal chloroplast surrounding central hollow and bilenticular pyrenoids. Molecular sequence data at Nuclear ribosomal DNA Internal Transcribed Spacer-1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) regions along with intervening 5.8S rRNA indicated Kimura-2-Parameter (K2P) pair-wise distance of 1.77 x 10-1 between this species and the nearest phylogenetic accession of Cladophora glomerata. In our phylogenetic reconstructions using Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood, this species was not part of any monophyletic clades comprising any of the previously described species of this genus at the locus studied, thereby ascertaining conformity with phylogenetic species concept. With this discovery, a new phylogenetically primitive morphological synapomorphy of “pseudodichotomous profuse branching” has been revealed for cladophoralean algae, and we argue that this is the single most important morphological characteristic of this bloom-forming seaweed.enhttp://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/34913Open Access