Ulva sp.

3.4 Ulva sp. NC 4 - Ulva ‘torta’

Ulva ‘ torta ’ (sp. NC 4) was resolved in a fully supported tufA tree clade (BS 100; PP 1.0) and was resolved in a poor to fully supported clade in the rbc L tree (BS 71; PP 1.0). Both the Ulva sp. NC 3 and Ulva ‘ torta ’ species clades were part of a large mostly unsupported clade that also includes U. californica , U. kanagawae V.Carneiro, M.T.Martins et Cassano , U. tanneri H.S.Hayden et Waaland , and other unidentified species. This species was found at southern collection sites in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and as far north as Ocracoke, North Carolina ( Figure 5 View Figure 5 ). Most of the samples were collected in protected, brackish environments, save the Outer Banks sample that was found in a euhaline environment. Morphologically, all North Carolina specimens were tubular, four had maximal lengths between 10 and 20 cm, and three had maximal lengths less than 10 cm ( Table 3). These latter specimens fit the common description of U. ‘ torta ’ as small, densely intertwined tubes ( Steinhagen et al. 2019b). All were branched, but the maximal width of the tubes and sizes of cells (both in surface view and transection) varied greatly in the North Carolina specimens ( Table 3, Figure 6K and L View Figure 6 ) and exceeded the ranges cited in morpho-anatomical descriptions of U. ‘ torta ’ in North Carolina ( Kapraun 1984; Schneider and Searles 1991).