ENDOSPORANGIA - A NEW FORM OF REPRODUCTION IN THE GENUS PORPHYRA (BANGIALES, RHODOPHYTA)

Endosporangia have been discovered in natural populations of a New Zea land species of Porphyra. An endosporangium develops in one of two way s: either it breaks open to release spores which develop directly into blades, or the endosporangium remains intact, becomes polarised and d evelops a rhizoidal basal region and a blade. Previously, endosporangi a have been found only in members of two of the four orders in the sub class Bangiophydicae, the Porphyridiales and the Compsopogonales, and have not been recorded for any species of Porphyra or for other member s of the order Bangiales.