Checklist on seaweeds in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Cape Verde archipelago

Abstract

In an earlier paper (PRUD'HOMME VAN REINE & VAN DEN HOEK 1988) in total 223 species of seaweeds were recordcd from the Cape Verde lslands. In almos! 25 years the number ofrecorded seaweed species in a contemporary database being kept in thc Nationaal Herbarium Nederland (the Leiden Atlantic seaweed database) has risen for that archipelago to 330 species: 57 green algae, 53 brown algae and 220 red algae. The first installment of the Checklist of thc western coast of tropical Africa and adjacent islands (LAWSON & PRICE 1969) lists 155 species of green algae, recorded from a vast coastal area. Of these, only 32 were also listed for the Cape Verde lslands. However, in our new database the number of green alga! species recorded from the Cape Verde lslands had risen to 57, including seven species that are not recorded in the full list of LAWSON & PRICE. For brown and red seaweeds similar ratio's can be expected. This illustrates the necessity for a new updated version ofthe West­African seaweed checklist and such a need cannot yet be met by using the ALGAEBASE WEBSITE on interne!. The different possibilities for such a new version will be discussed and also, as a spin-off, a checklist on Capeverdean seaweeds.