Contribution to the Marine Algal Flora of San Felix Island, Desventuradas Archipelago, Chile!

Only 12 species of marine algae were known until now from the Desventuradas Archipelago. A recent collection added 10 species yielding a total of six Chlorophyta, nine Phaeophyta, and seven Rhodophyta. Only one species, Padina tristromatica Levring, is endemic. More than half of the representatives are in common with the flora of the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, but only five species are also found on the continental coasts of Chile and Peru. THE SAN FELIX AND San Ambrosio islands and adjacent islets forming the Desventuradas Archipelago (26° 20' S, 80° 00' W approximately) are the least known among the Chilean oceanic territories. They rarely have been visited by biologists, and only twice by phycologists. Five species were described by Levring (1942), from material sent to him by C. Skottsberg. The second report of algal species in these islands was made by Etcheverry (1960), who added seven species to those previously reported. In this paper we present descriptions of the taxa collected by one of the authors (A.J.H.) on a recent expedition and of additional material not previously examined from other collections. With this information at hand, it is possible to compare the algal flora from the Desventuradas Archipelago with that of the nearest geographical areas.