James N Norris

• PhD
• Professor Emeritus at Smithsonian Institution

A new subtidal species of Dasya is reported from offshore algal plains of Puerto Rico and Grenada in the Caribbean. Closely invested with pigmented lateral branchlets giving the alga a shaggy appearance, the species bears close resemblance and genetic affinity to the Bermudian Dasya cryptica and a superficial resemblance to Pacific D. anastomosans...

p>This treatment is a taxonomic study of the benthic species of Chlorophyta known from Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea. In all, 2 classes, 8 orders, 25 families, 50 genera, and 150 species occur in the benthic marine communities in Puerto Rico. Along with date, place, and author(s) of valid publication for all genera, species, and infraspecific taxa, ty...

This study builds on recent treatments of the marine red algal family Gracilariaceae (Gracilariales) focusing in detail on Hydropuntia and Crassiphycus. Species in these two genera often present identification problems due to high levels of morphologial similarity among genetically distinct species, and high levels of phenotypic plasticity, leading...

The gelatinous, calciferous red alga Renouxia antillana was described in 1995 based on material from Guadeloupe, French West Indies, and accommodated in a new family and order (Rhodogorgonaceae, Rhodogorgonales) along with the genus Rhodogorgon from Belize and Caribbean Panama. For more than 20 years, Renouxia has remained monotypic, with rare repo...

Five species of benthic marine algae (Phaeophyceae: Lobophora littlerorum ; Rhodophyta: Meristotheca cylindrica, Naccaria corymbosa, Xiphosiphonia pinnulata and Dipterosiphonia reversa ) represent new distribution records from the coastal waters surrounding Puerto Rico in the northern Caribbean Sea. The latter two species are now reported for the f...

Lobophora is a common tropical to temperate genus of brown algae found in a plethora of habitats including shallow and deep‐water coral reefs, rocky shores, mangroves, seagrass beds and rhodoliths beds. Recent molecular studies have revealed that Lobophora species diversity has been severely underestimated. Current estimates of the species numbers...

The Gracilariales is a red macroalgal order and the main global source of the economically important agar, a marine phycocolloid. Independent comparative morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies over the last 20 years have revealed the existence of seven major clades recognizable as distinct genera. Of these major clades only four free-livi...

The tribe Spongoclonieae (Ceramiaceae subfam. Spongoclonioideae) is represented on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Mexico by two genera: Pleonosporium with eight species and Spongoclonium with a single species. Pleonosporium boergesenii and P. borreri are both new records for Atlantic Mexico. Known in Pacific and Atlantic Mexico, P. rhizoideum h...

The present treatment constitutes an undated, annotated, systematic review of red, brown, and green benthic marine algae of the Gulf of California, Mexico, using the currently accepted taxon names, with the date and place of valid publication, type locality, and north to south distribution in the Gulf. The systematic list contains 730 species recog...

The present treatment constitutes an undated, annotated, systematic review of red, brown, and green benthic marine algae of the Gulf of California, Mexico, using the currently accepted taxon names, with the date and place of valid publication, type locality, and north to south distribution in the Gulf. The systematic list contains 730 species recog...

Norris, James N., Luis E. Aguilar-Rosas, and Francisco F. Pedroche. Conspectus of the Benthic Marine Algae of the Gulf of California: Rhodophyta, Phaeophyceae, and Chlorophyta. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, number 106, vi +125 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, 1 appendix, 2017. — The present treatment constitutes an undated, annotated, systematic r...

Genera in the Rhodymeniaceae Harvey that have a hollow thallus lacking diaphragms have been placed in Chrysymenia J. Agardh 1842 (including Gloiosaccion Harvey 1859), Botryocladia (J. Agardh) Kylin 1931, Irvinea Guiry in Saunders et al. 1999, and Cresia C. Lozada-Troche, D.L. Ballantine & H. Ruíz 2010. Chrysymenia has traditionally been defined by...

Two new Ethelia (Etheliaceae, Rhodophyta) species are described from Puerto Rico and a third from the Bahamas. None were found at both locations. All three differ from previously described Ethelia species in possessing ventral rhizoids as well as possessing variably extensive ventral parenchymatous outgrowths. Ethelia crassa has been collected at a...

Abstract: Two new species of Ramicrusta (Peyssonneliaceae, Rhodophyta), Ramicrusta bonairensis from Bonaire, The Netherlands Antilles and Puerto Rico and Ramicrusta monensis from Puerto Rico are described on the basis of both morphological and genetic criteria. Both grow closely appressed to their substrata, a characteristic that differs from their...

Two new species of Ramicrusta (Peyssonneliaceae, Rhodophyta), Ramicrusta bonairensis from Bonaire, The Netherlands Antilles and Puerto Rico and Ramicrusta monensis from Puerto Rico are described on the basis of both morphological and genetic criteria. Both grow closely appressed to their substrata, a characteristic that differs from their Caribbean...

Continued collection of algae around the island of Puerto Rico principally focused on deep and shallow coral reef habitats led to the additional recognition of nine species previously unknown for the flora, including five Rhodophyta: Liagora tsengii, Crouania elisiae, Crouania pumila, Augophyllum wysori, Chrysymenia ventricosa; one Heterokontophyta...

Norris, James N. Marine Algae of the Northern Gulf of California II: Rhodophyta. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, number 96, xvi + 555 pages, 236 figures, 2014.— The present treatment constitutes a taxonomic study of the benthic marine red algae known in the northern Gulf of California. In all, 387 species of Rhodophyta belonging to two subphyl...

On the basis of comparative morphological and molecular analyses, a new red algal species in the genus Wrangelia (Wrangeliaceae, Ceramiales) is described from the tropical western Atlantic. Distinctive characteristics of the proposed new species, W. gordoniae , include: overall habit; built up pseudoparenchymatous cortex that is com-posed of 2, and...

ABSTRACT Norris, James N. Marine Algae of the Northern Gulf of California II: Rhodophyta. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, number 96, xvi + 555 pages, 236 figures, 2014.— The present treatment constitutes a taxonomic study of the benthic marine red algae known in the northern Gulf of California. In all, 387 species of Rhodophyta belonging to tw...

Gloiotrichus (Liagoraceae; Nemaliales), a red algal genus originally described from Western Australia and later found in Hawaii, is reported for the first time in the western Atlantic Ocean, from the Caribbean Sea. A new species, G. vermiculatus, is described based on specimens collected from subtidal waters near Carrie Bow Cay, Belize and off St....

Gracilaria vermiculophylla (Ohmi) Papenfuss is an invasive alga that is native to Southeast Asia and has invaded many estuaries in North America and Europe. It is difficult to differentiate G. vermiculophylla from native forms using morphology and therefore molecular techniques are needed. In this study, we used three molecular markers (rbcL, cox2-...

Although the systematics of Caloglossa has been intensely investigated, the species diversity of the genus is not yet fully understood. Comparative chloroplast-encoded rbcL and nuclear LSU rDNA sequence analyses, combined with morphological observations, reveal new records and two new species for the Americas. The species, previously identified as...

The red algal genus Caloglossa (Delesseriaceae, Ceramiales) in the New World is represented by Caloglossa leprieurii sensu lato. The earliest name for any species in the genus, other than the basionym Delesseria leprieurii, is Apiarium apiculum. On the basis of comparative morphological data, and rbcL and LSU rDNA sequence analyses, the C. leprieur...

Gelidium J.V. Lamouroux is an economically and ecologically important red algal genus including about 118 species worldwide. A total of 17 species are reported in Korea. We collected G. crinale, G. divaricatum, G. elegans, G. vagum, an unidentified species and studied phylogenetic relationships of the species using rbcL, psaA, and cox1 genes. Topol...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Barbara, 1975. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 505-528). Typescript (photocopy).

The Peyssonneliaceae Denizot comprises a worldwide group of non-calcified or calcified, crust-forming red algae found in diverse, intertidal to deep subtidal marine habitats. Eight genera have been recognized in the family, with Peyssonnelia Decaisne having the largest number of species. Both comparative morphology and rbcL and nuclear LSU rDNA seq...

Specimens from the exsiccatae Phycotheca BorealiAmericana number 698 are shown to represent two distinct species. One of them, formerly known as Callithamnion halliae, is transferred to Aglaothamnion on the basis of its uninucleate cells. The specimens exhibit distichous branching and are ecorticate. A lectotype is proposed for one of the P.B.-A. #...

Dudresnaya patula sp. nov. is described from 30–60 m depth on the east coast of Florida. The plant grows to a height of at least 10 cm, has flattened axes and main branches to 2 cm wide and 3 mm thick, and has unusually long female reproductive branches. The new species is compared to other Dudresnaya species in habitat, vegetative structure, and r...

The green algal genus Blidingia (Ulvales), reported for the first time in California only 4 years ago, is now found to be fairly widely distributed there as B. minima (Nägeli ex Kützing) Kylin var. minima. B. minima var. subsalsa (Kjellman) Seagal is now recorded for California. Ulva vexata Setchell and Gardner [Enteromorpha vexata (Setch. & Gardn....

Platoma abbottiana (Gymnophlaeaceae; Gigartinales), a new species of benthic red algae, is described from Isla Mejía and is the second member of this genus reported from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Vegetative anatomy and reproductive details of the carpogonial and auxiliary cell branches of the new species are described and illustrated. Geograp...

A recent survey of the Brazilian Gracilariaceae (Rhodophyta, Gracilariales) flora aided by molecular-based phylogenetic analyses and comparative morphological data revealed two unidentified flat species of Gracilaria described here: G. abyssalis sp. nov. and G. brasiliensis sp. nov. Gracilaria abyssalis is a deep-water species characterized by a co...

Two novel cyclized meroditerpenoids atomarianones A, and B (1 and 2), were isolated from the organic extract of the brown alga Taonia atomaria collected at Serifos island in the Central Aegean Sea. This is only the second report on metabolites having a functionalized indane moiety instead of a benzofurano- or a benzopyrano-ring connecting their aro...

The different meanings and applications of the terms used to describe important taxonomic characters and to distinguish some species, genera, and families of Phaeophyceae are discussed. The position of reproductive structures on the thallus of crustose brown algae is considered a critical character but has been misapplied or interpreted differently...

Tribute volumes dedicated in honor of Isabella A. Abbott

The genus Gracilaria (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) has long been one of the most taxonomically challenging groups of red algae as a result of the high number of species, small number of distinctive characters, and the high levels of morphological plasticity among vegetative and reproductive features. Recently, DNA sequence phytogenies based on the ch...

In studying the morphology and reproductive development in two species of Ceramium (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta), with emphasis on nodal cortication, two different developmental patterns of rhizoidal corticating cells were found. In C. personatum (a species with incomplete cortication), elongate rhizoidal corticating cells are only produced basipetally...

Gracilaria tikvahiae, a highly morphologically variable red alga, is one of the most common species of Gracilariaceae inhabiting Atlantic estuarine environments and the Intracoastal Waterway of eastern North America. Populations of G. tikvahiae at the extremes of their geographic range (Canada and southern Mexico) are subjected to very different en...

Tribute volumes dedicated in honor of Isabella A. Abbott

The taxonomic validity of the genus Hydropuntia Montagne (1843) (including Polycavernosa) within the Gracilariaceae (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) is controversial. Morphological characters that define species of Hydropuntia are said to be variable and to overlap with those of Gracilaria. Here we present a global phylogenetic study of the family based...

A recent molecular phylogenetic study inferred from chloroplast-encoded rbcL sequence analyses based on 20 specimens of Gracilariopsis. Dawson 1949 worldwide confirmed the monophyly of the genus and revealed the existence of three new Caribbean species (Gurgel et al. J. Phycol., submitted). Gracilariopsis sp. 1 collected in the Mexican Gulf of Mexi...

Species of Gracilariopsis are typically characterized as slender, elongate, cylindrical fronds with varying degrees of branching that exhibit less habit diversity than species of Gracilaria. Of the thirteen currently known species of Gracilariopsis worldwide, ten have been described from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, and three from...

Despite a recent body of literature, the species of Gracilaria recognized for the Gulf of Mexico are still incompletely characterized, misidentified, and species limits not well defined due to huge morphological plasticity and overlapping habits. To better characterize these taxa and evaluate their taxonomic relationships, we provide a chloroplast-...

Six genera and 13 species of red algae, characteristic of sand-plain habitats between 10 and 28 m depths, are reported for the first time for the Caribbean coast of Colombia. They are Amphiroa beauvoisii Lamouroux, Halymenia pseudofloresia Collins et Howe, Dudresnaya bermudensis Setchell, D. crassa Howe, Sebdenia flabellata (J. Agardh) Parkinson, A...

Novel polyunsaturated fatty acids with four conjugated double bonds were found in extracts of the green macroalga, Anadyomene stellata. The isolation of five of these with different chain lengths and varying degrees of unsaturation--16:5, 18:4, 20:5, 20:6, and 22:7--was accomplished by organic extraction followed by a combination of vacuum and high...

Callidictyon abyssorum, gen. et sp. nov., an unusual, net-forming red alga, is described from deep-water Pacific collections made from the research submersible Makati'i at 80-m depths on Penguin Bank, off the island of Moloka'i, Hawai'i. Though no reproductive structures were found, the new genus shares vegetative similarities with three tribes of...

Thirty-three species of marine algae are reported for the first time for islands of the Lesser Antilles, including 26 Rhodophyta, 3 Phaeophyta, and 4 Chlorophyta. Three red algae, Crouania capricornia, Monosporus indicus and Halymenia clathrata, represent new distribution reocrds to the Caribbean Sea. Mazoyerella kraftii sp. nov. (Ceramiaceae), is...

Three Caribbean species of Callithamnion are recognized to be species of Aglaothamnion. The life history of Aglaothamnion herveyi (Howe) comb. nov., completed in culture, was a Polysiphonia type, but this species also reproduced by propagules in both gametophytic and tetrasporophytic plants. Propagules recycled their respective phases. Aglaothamnio...

Twelve out of twenty-nine compounds isolated from benthic marine algae from the phyla Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta have been found to be potent inhibitors of bee venom derived phospholipase A2 (PLA2) (> 50%) in the M range. The compounds investigated were from: Bryopsis pennata, Rhipocephalus phoenix, Caulerpa prolifera, C. racemosa, C. b...

A species of Liagora collected from the Florida Keys, USA, and most closely resembling L. ceranoides Lamouroux (Liagoraceae, Rhodophyta), exhibited a heteromorphic life history in culture. Carpospores released by cystocarps of field-collected female gametophytes gave rise to free-living, uniseriate, filamentous thalli in long days (LD) and short da...

The fine structure of the recently described red algaRhodogorgon carriebowensis J. Norris et Bucher was studied by light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy to aid in the ordinal placement of this unusual alga. Most significant in this context were findings that pit plugs had two-layered plug caps, the outer layer of which...