Morphology and distribution of Cocconeiopsis Witkowski, Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin from Santa Catarina state littoral, Brazil.

Abstract

The morphology of Cocconeiopsis orthoneoides (Hustedt) Witkowski, Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin, C. pseudorthoneoides (Foged) Witkowski, Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin, C. pullus (Hustedt) Witkowski, Lange- Bertalot & Metzelin and C. patrickae (Hustedt) Witkowski, Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin was studied using eletron microscopy. The study of Brazilian material allowed observations of open bands with fi ne poroids in C. pseudorthoneoides. Cocconeiopsis patrickae was the species with widest distribution in the studied area, occurring in 12 of 22 sampled beaches and it was abundant in the beaches Araçá, Praia Brava and Quatro Ilhas beaches. All studied species were observed in Zimbros. Considering the geographic distribution, all studied taxa are for fi rst time recorded in Brazil. Cocconeiopsis pseudorthoneoides is a Southern Hemisphere species occurring in the African and South American continents, C. pullus and C. patrickae are American species, while C. orthoneoides is cosmopolitan.