Ulva sp.

3.6 Ulva sp. NC 6 - Ulva lactuca

Ulva lactuca (sp. NC 6) was resolved in a clade that received strong to full (BS 99; PP 1.0) support in the tufA analysis, but in the rbc L analysis, received no BS support but good PP (0.93) support. This clade included the type sequences for currently recognized species U. lacinulata (Kützing) Wittrock , U. ohnoi Hiraoka et S.Shimada , U. lactuca , U. dactylifera Setchell et N.L.Gardner , U. taeniata Setchell et N.L.Gardner , and U. conglobata Kjellman. Also in this clade were type sequences for the following names, all of which had been synonymized under U. lactuca : U. nematoidea Bory , U. lobata (Kützing) Harvey , and U. rotundata Bliding.

Ulva lactuca was collected from the southern sites in New Hanover and Brunswick Counties ( Figure 5 View Figure 5 ). It was found in oceanic and high to low salinity habitats along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Morphologically, all members of this species were distromatic blades ( Table 3, Figure 7C – E View Figure 7 ), but the shape of blades was highly mixed, with some having a more linear/lanceolate shape, others being more lobed, and some being linear/lanceolate with lobing present along the margins. All branched U. lactuca samples exhibited basal branching, and they ranged from less than 10 cm to greater than 20 cm in length and from less than 5 cm to greater than 15 cm in width. North Carolina specimens also exhibited a wide range of pyrenoid number per cell.