Seaweeds of the brave boat harbor salt marsh and adjacent open coast of southern Maine

A comparison of species richness at 51 coastal and estuarine sites in south ern Maine is given, encompassing the area from Cape Neddick, York, to Fort Foster, Kittery, and including the Brave Boat Harbor salt marsh (York/Kitte ry). A total of 148 taxa was recorded, which is relatively high compared to other coastal or estuarine areas in northern New England. Seaweed populati ons exhibited three major distributional patterns: coastal (41%), coastal-e stuarine (51%), and estuarine (8%). Perennial species dominated open coasta l and outer estuarine locations, while annuals were most conspicuous at inn er estuarine sites. Twenty-nine taxa were restricted to a single site (2% o ccurrence), whereas 19 were found at 21-36 sites (41-71% occurrence). Diver sity in Brave Boat Harbor's main tidal channel was relatively high (83 spec ies), presumably because of coastal and estuarine influences, diversity of habitats, and limited anthropogenic impacts. Six new or uncommon seaweeds w ere recorded from Brave Boat Harbor, including the invasive green alga Codi um fragile subsp. tomentosoides, the green algal epiphyte Urospora curvata, the tubular opportunistic brown alga Melanosiphon intestinalis, the entang led or partially embedded ecads Fucus vesiculosus ecad volubilis and F. spi ralis ecad lutarius, and a dwarf embedded moss or "muscoides-like" Fucus. T he prolific growth of psammophytic populations of F. spiralis on sandy bluf fs at Brave Boat Harbor is also unique, as it typically grows on hard subst rata within contiguous muddy estuaries. It was most abundant in the outer t hird of the Harbor, along with its detached ecad lutarius. Ascophyllum nodo sum ecad scorpioides and F. vesiculosus ecad volubilis grew commonly as det ached or buried populations in the interior parts of the Harbor, while the "muscoides-like" Fucus was found on outer high sandy marsh surfaces.