New records of the genus Spirogyra (Zygnemataceae, Conjugatophyceae) in Korea

Spirogyra is a zygnematalean green algal genus that is ubiquitous in a broad range of freshwater habitats throughout the world. Samples collected throughout Korea from October 2004 to July 2015 were examined using light microscopy. Morphological characteristics (e.g., size of vegetative cells, number of chloroplasts in each cell, type of end walls of adjacent cells, details of conjugation, shape of female gametangia, dimensions and shape of zygospores, color and ornamentation of median spore walls) were used as diagnostic characteristics for species identification. In this study, five species of Spirogyra (i.e., S. emilianensis Bonhomme, S. jaoensis Randhawa, S. pascheriana Czurda, S. weberi var. farlowii (Transeau) Petlovany, and S. weberi var. grevilleana (Hassall) Kirchner) were described as newly recorded in Korea.