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Pak. J. Bot., 42(6): 4169-4176, 2010.

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ANATOMICAL STUDIES ON LOBOPHORA VARIEGATA (PHAEOPHYCOTA) FROM THE COAST OF PAKISTAN

ALIA ABBAS¹ AND MUSTAFA SHAMEEL²

Abstract: Lobophora variegata (Lamouroux) Womersley ex Oliveira [=Dictyota variegata Lamouroux], a fan-shaped, reddish brown alga of the family  Dictyotaceae (Dictyotales, Dictyophyceae, Phaeophycota) was collected from Manora and Buleji, the coastal areas of Karachi (Pakistan) during March 2009 and February 2010. It was investigated in detail for its morphology, anatomy and reproduction. Surface cells of its thallus were studied in detail, where presence of dark coloured, horizontal or transverse lines were noticed on the thalli. During the study several new characters, such as very long cortical cells in the middle and basal portions of the thallus, horizontally elongated medullary cells which become almost cubical in the basal part, and the presence of induciate sporangia were observed.

¹Department of Botany, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi-7530

²Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan