Rejection of Sinkoraena and transfer of some species of Carpopeltis and Sinkoraena to Polyopes (Rhodophyta, Halymeniaceae)

Three red algal species of the Halymeniaceae from Japan, Carpopeltis affinis, C. prolifera and Polyopes polyideoides, all have frequently branched, bushy auxiliary-cell ampullae of the Aeodes type, with a cup-shaped outline. The auxiliary-cell ampullae are similar to those of the generitypes of Polyopes and Sinkoraena, P. constrictus and S. lancifolia. In ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase gene sequence analysis, the five species of Carpopeltis, Polyopes and Sinkoraena, together with another species of Sinkoraena, S. tasmanica form a distinct and monophyletic clade (with high bootstrap support) in the Halymeniaceae. Carpopeltis affinis and C. prolifera are therefore transferred to Polyopes as P. affinis (Harvey) Kawaguchi & Wang, comb. nov. and P. prolifer (Hariot) Kawaguchi & Wang, comb. nov. The genus Sinkoraena is congeneric with Polyopes, and S. lancifolia and S. tasmanica are transferred to Polyopes as P. lancifolius (Harvey) Kawaguchi & Wang, comb. nov. and P. tasmanicus (Womersley & J.A. Lewis) Kawaguchi & J.A. Lewis, comb. nov.