A checklist of marine algae from Ifduk Atoll, Caroline Island

The marine algae of Ifaluk Atoll and of the Caroline Islands in general appear to be similar to those from the Marshall Islands, as described by Taylor (1950) and Dawson (1956, 1957). The Carolines are for the most part low atolls and their algal floras might be expected to be similar. Some of the volcanic islands in the Caroline group shoiild, on the other hand, furnish a more diverse flora.

The present check-list contains algae collected over a four-month period and represents the most intensive collection of algae from the Caroline Islands. It probably includes 80-90% of the algae of a low atoll near the Equator.

There are a total of 54 new records (31 green algae, 1 brow, 22 red) among 85 species reported here for the Caroline Islands. Schmidt (1928) in summarizing the work of earlier investigators, reported a total of 77 species. To this number, about 20 more species have been reported by various Japanese workers in scattered pnblications.

I wish to thank Dr. Harold J. Coolidge for making possible a grant of funds from Contract N7onr29116 between the Office of Naval Research and the National Academy of Sciences. I a, greatly indebted to my husband, Donald P. Abbott, for making these collections for me. The Ifaluki Survey, sponsored by the Pacific Science Board, took place in 1953 and is described by Marston Rates and D. P. Abbott in the volume Coral Island, Portrait of an Atoll, Scrilmer's, 1958.

In the list that follows, algae which were collected at more than 10 stations are listed as very common; those collected at 5-10 stations as common; and those at fever stations as rare. The specimens have been deposited in the University of Michigan (LIM), University of California at Berkeley (uc), Bishop Museum (EM), U.S. National Museum (US), and the Chicago Natural History Museum (CM). Some residual collections are at the Hopkins Narine Station of Stanford University (IIMs). An asterisk denotes a new record for the Caroline Islands