MACROALGAS DEL BANCO DE LAS ANIMAS Y NUEVOS REGISTROS PARA EL CARIBE COLOMBIANO

Abstract

Forty nine macroalgal species (7 Chlorophyta, 4 Phaeophyta and 38 Rhodophyta) are reported for the first time for the Banco de las Animas, at the southwest of Santa Marta City (Salamanca Gulf, Colombia). The collections were made between 20 and 30 m depth. The green alga Halimeda gracilis Harvey ex J. Agardh and the red ones Corynomorpha clavata (Harvey) J. Agardh, Cryptonemia sp., Acrothamnion butleriae (Collins) Kylin, Antithamnion ogdeniae Abbott, Antithamnionella breviramosa (Dawson) Wollaston in Womersley and Bailey, Hypoglossum simulans Wynne, Price et Ballantine and H. subsimplex Wynne, are new records for the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Thefloristiccompositionof thebankhasasimilarityof 81 % with the one present at the same depths in the Tairona Natural National Park. Due to this characteristic and to the exuberance of certain species, the Banco de las Animas is considered a refuge, in which these plants avoid the herbivorous fishes and urchins of the shallow rock-coral reefs.