Gracilaria purpurascens J. Agardh, 1885: 63–64 (type locality: Sri Lanka).—De Toni, 1900: 454.— J. Agardh, 1901: 98–99.— De Toni, 1924: 271.— Isaac, 1971: 18.— Lawson, 1980: 48.
Gracilaria spinulosa (Okamura) Chang & B. Xia forma srilankia Chang & B. Xia, 1976: 149, 157.
Gracilaria srilankia (Chang & B. Xia) Withell, Millar, & Kraft, 1994: 310.
INDIAN OCEAN DISTRIBUTION: Kenya, Mauritius, Sri Lanka.
Note: Gracilaria purpurascens J. Agardh is based on a specimen distributed by Harvey (1857a: no. 96) in his Ceylon exsiccata under the name Rhodymenia purpurascens, without a description. The Agardh name is a later homonym of R. purpurascens Greville (1830: liv), an intended combination of Fucus purpurascens Hudson (1778: 589), a superfluous name for F. purpureus Hudson (1762: 471), treated as Cystoclonium purpureum (Hudson) Batters (q.v.). Chang & B. Xia (1976), following Yamada (1941a: 204), considered G. purpurascens to be conspecific with G. spinulosa, but distinguished it as forma srilankia. Withell, Millar, & Kraft (l.c.) recognized both species and provided a legitimate name for G. purpurascens by elevating forma srilankia to specific rank.