Fucus capillaceus S. Gmelin, 1768: 146, pl. XV: fig. 1 (type locality: Mediterranean Sea).
Gelidium capillaceum (S. Gmelin) Meneghini in Frauenfeld, 1854: 334.—Hauck, 1888 [1886–1889]: 89.— Möbius, 1893: 138.— Schmitz, 1895a: 139.— Schmitz, 1895b: 26.
Pterocladia capillacea (S. Gmelin) Bornet in Bornet & Thuret, 1876: 57, pl. XX: figs. 1–7.—V. May, 1949a: 294.— Gerloff, 1957: 764.— Hodgkin, Marsh, & G.G. Smith, 1959: 87.— Marsh & Hodgkin, 1962: 66, fig. 4.— Isaac, 1967: 79.— Farghaly, 1980: 160.— Moorjani, 1980b: 460, 463.— Subbaramaiah, 1985: 139.— Huisman et al., 1990: 93.— Huisman & Walker, 1990: 414.— Kendrick, Huisman, & Walker, 1990: 50.— Ormond & Banaimoon, 1994: 118.— Womersley & Guiry, 1994: 139–141.
Misapplied names (fide Dixon, 1960: 302–309):
Gelidium corneum (Hudson) Lamouroux var. pinnatum.—G. Martens, 1868: 30, 92–93.— De Wildeman, 1897a: 169.
Pterocladia pinnata.—V. May, 1965: 371.— Lawson, 1980: 59.— Jagtap, 1993: table I.
INDIAN OCEAN DISTRIBUTION: Australia, Indonesia (Java), Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Somalia, Tanzania, Yemen.
Note: Pterocladia capillacea is usually accredited to (S. Gmelin) Bornet & Thuret (1876: 57), but in the cited publication the name is clearly attributed to Bornet.