Splitting blades: why genera need to be more carefully defined; the case for <italic>Pyropia</italic> (Bangiales, Rhodophyta)

• DOI: 10.4490/algae.2022.37.9.11
• Publication Date: 2022-09-22T23:05:33Z
• Authors: Giuseppe C. Zucca...; Xinging Wen; Gwang Hoon Kim
• Keywords: Sensu; Sister group

The trend in naming genera based almost exclusively on molecular data, and not morphological diagnostic characters, is increasing. In bifurcating phylogenetic trees generic cut-offs are arbitrary, but at the bare minimum nomenclatural changes should be supported by multiple methodologies using appropriate models for all various gene partitions, strong support with branch methods, also result adding to our knowledge of interrelationships taxa. We believe that a recent taxonomic treatment genus Pyropia (Yang et al. 2020) into several unwarranted. reanalysed data presented article, additional methods. Our results show many newly established well new circumscription renders it unsupported. tested outgroups, which were previously suggested as sister Pyropia, this did substantially change conclusions. These strongly do shed light evolution group have serious consequences these commercially important algae, governed plethora regulation by-laws now need amended. suggest over-splitting groups only poorly produced modestly phylogenies accepted sensu Sutherland (2011) restored.