| Vanvoorstia
bennettiana |
HOME |
| |
| Kingdom |
Protista |
Bennett’s
Seaweed photographed by Alan J.K. Millar. The
copyrighted photograph presented here may be freely used for any non-commercial
purpose, but please credit the respective photographer. For commercial use,
please contact the photographer directly. Please visit the 2003
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Photo Gallery for more information.
|
| Phylum |
Rhodophyta |
| Class |
Rhodophyceae |
| Order |
Ceramiales |
| Family |
Delesseriaceae |
| Authority |
(Harvey)
Papenfuss, 1956 |
| |
| English
Name |
Bennett’s
Seaweed
|
| Dutch
Name |
Bennetts
Zeewier |
| French
Name |
Algue
de Bennett |
| Italian Name |
Alga
Marina di Bennett |
| Spanish Name |
Alga
de Bennett |
| |
| Synonyms |
Claudea
bennettiana Harvey, 1859; Sonderia
bennettiana (Harvey) Müller ex J.Agardh, 1890 |
| |
| Comments |
The
Bennett's Seaweed is the only species of red
algae on the IUCN Red List and is listed as Extinct.
|
| |
| Taxonomy |
This species is a member of the
kingdom Protista (or Protoctista) which is a diverse assemblage that are
united based on the lack of characteristics expressed in members of
other kingdoms. They are defined as eukaryotic organisms that are
distinct from plants, animals and fungi. (Baillie et
al. 2004) |
| |
| Characteristics |
The
Bennett's Seaweed consists of a flat, finely-meshed blade in which the
tetrasporangial stichidia are also easily defined, and is distinguished
from the other Vanvoorstia species by its smaller size and by the
morphology of its reproductive structures. (Sanger 1999; Millar 2003) |
| |
| Range
& Habitat |
The
Bennett's Seaweed has only been collected from two Australian sites:
Spectacle Island in Parramatta River (New South Wales) and the
seabed between Point Piper and Shark Island in Port Jackson (Sydney
Harbour). (Baillie et al. 2004) |
| |
| History
& Population |
The
Bennett's Seaweed was first discovered as one individual plant from the
seabed at the eastern end of Spectacle Island in Parramatta River (New
South Wales, Australia), the type locality, sometime between the 1st and
the 16th May in 1855. The second and last collection was in October 1886,
when Dr Ramsay of the Australian Museum collected approximately 15
individual plants by dredging between Shark Island and Point Piper, Port
Jackson, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. It was was considered
a common species. (Sanger 1999; Millar 2003)
In 1913, a scientific paper was published
indicating the species was unable to be collected despite attempts by the
curator of the algal collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Subsequent
curators have also failed to find the species. Since 1980, it has been a State
government research priority to document the entire marine algal flora of NSW.
However, no
specimens have been seen or collected since the second collection in
1886, despite
numerous attempts made by algologists during that period,
and it has therefore been declared Extinct. (ISSC 1999; Millar 2003)
|
| |
| Extinction
Causes |
Habitat loss through human activities (trawling, dredging,
infrastructure development, human settlement, tourism/recreation, water
transportation, fisheries- related bycatch, and water pollution from
agriculture, domestic, commercial/ industrial, oil, sedimentation and
sewage) caused the extinction of this species. (Millar 2003; Baillie
et al. 2004; Paxton in litt.)
|
| |
| Conservation
Attempts |
The
Bennett's Seaweed is listed as a
"Species Presumed Extinct" in section 4 of Schedule 4 of the
Fisheries Management Act 1994, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
This species is also listed as "Extinct" under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, by the Commonwealth of
Australia. (Baillie et al. 2004) |
| |
| Museum
Specimens |
Do
you know a museum specimen? Contact
this website. |
| |
| Relatives |
The
genus Vanvoorstia contains four species. Besides the extinct
Bennet's Seaweed there are also three living species. Vanvoorstia
spectabilis and Vanvoorstia coccinea are common tropical
species living in the Indo-Pacific, including the Great Barrier Reef. Vanvoorstia
spectabilis is also recorded from Lord Howe Island. The fourth is a
new species he described from East Africa which is probably Critically
Endangered: Vanvoorstia incipiens (De Clerck, Wynne & Coppejans
1999). It occurs massively in a single bay along the east coast of
Zanzibar. (Millar 2003) |
| |
| Links |
IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species: Vanvoorstia bennettiana
DEH
Species Profiles - Vanvoorstia bennettiana - Bennett's Seaweed
Bennetts
Seaweed - NSW DPI - Fisheries
|
| |
| References |
Agardh,
J.A. 1890. Till Algernes Systematik, Nya bidrag (Sjette afdelningen). XI. Florideae.
Lunds Universitet Arsskrift 26: 125 pp., 3 plates.
Baillie,
J.E.M., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (Editors) 2004. 2004
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. A Global Species Assessment.
IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. xxiv + 191 pp.
De Clerck, O., M. J. Wynne, &
E. Coppejans. 1999. Vanvoorstia incipiens sp. nov. (Delesseriaceae,
Rhodophyta) from Tanzania, East Africa. Phycologia 38: 394-400.
Harvey, W.H. 1859. Phycologia
Australica. Volume 2, xi + pls 61-120. Lovel Reeve, London.
Millar, A.J.K. 2003. Vanvoorstia
bennettiana. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>.
Downloaded on 12 January 2007.
Papenfuss, G.F. 1956. On the
nomenclature of some Delesseriaceae. Taxon 7: 158-162.
Paxton, J.R. In litt. Evaluation of
the assessment of the conservation status of the red alga Vanvoorstia
bennettiana (recent common name Bennetts seaweed) as Extinct, using
IUCN categories and criteria, by A.J.K. Millar.
Sanger, A. 1999. NSW Fisheries
Scientific Committee (1999) Recommendation: Vanvoorstia bennettiana -
(Bennetts Seaweed). Ref. No. FR7. File No. FSC 99/16.
Threatened Species Scientific
Committee (TSSC).
1999. Vanvoorstia bennettiana (Bennetts Seaweed), a marine red
alga. Advice to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage from the
Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) on a public nomination for
a species listing on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
|
|
Last
updated: 29th November 2007.
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page is a part of The
Extinction Website.
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