First report of the genus Sorocarpus Pringsheim (Fucophyceae, Ectocarpaceae) in the Mediterranean

The genus Sorocarpus (Fucophyceae, Ectocarpaceae) is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean. The genus is characterized by the clustered plu rilocular sporangia, often several on a cell, true phaeophycean hairs and s everal disc-shaped chloroplasts in each cell. The alga was only collected a t one site in the city of Venice, growing on the hard substrata, close to t he lower limit of the midlittoral zone (-0.4 m). It appears difficult to as sign the collected specimens to any well defined species, owing to the lack of definite morphological characteristics.