Hypnea charoides Lamouroux, 1813: 132, pl. 10: figs. 1–3 (type locality: "Nov. Holl.'').—Sonder, 1848 [1846–1848]: 189–190.— Børgesen, 1943: 56–58, figs. 27, 28.— Børgesen, 1950b: 16.— S. Dixit, 1968: 21 (as var. indica Weber-van Bosse, in error).— Lawson, 1980: 50.— Jagtap, 1993: table I.— Mshigeni & D. Chapman, 1994: 254.— Womersley, 1994: 441–442.
Taxonomic synonyms:
* Hypnea musciformis (Wulfen) Lamouroux var. ramulosa Harvey, 1834a: 153 (type locality: Mauritius).
Hypnea divaricata (C. Agardh) Greville var. ramulosa (Harvey) J. Agardh, 1851 [1851–1863]: 448–449.—G. Martens, 1868: 30, 92–93.— Möbius, 1893: 138.— De Wildeman, 1897a: 172.— De Wildeman, 1900: 410.
Hypnea seticulosa J. Agardh, 1851 [1851–1863]: 446–447 (including Indian Ocean record) (lectotype locality: Tasmania fide Weber-van Bosse, 1928: 449).—Harvey, 1855b: 552.— Harvey, 1863: xxxvi.— Sonder, 1880: 26.— Bornet, 1885: 19.— De Toni, 1900: 476–477.— Lucas, 1909: 31.— De Toni & Forti, 1923: 28.
Misapplied name:
Hypnea divaricata.—Sonder, 1848 [1846–1848]: 190.— Harvey, 1863: xxxvi.— Dickie, 1874b: 194.
INDIAN OCEAN DISTRIBUTION: Australia, Indonesia (Java; Sumatra; Timor), Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Tanzania.
Note: Contrary to the position taken by P. Silva, Meñez, & Moe (1987: 49), Hypnea charoides Lamouroux should be considered validly published in accordance with Art. 44.2 since the protologue, although lacking a description, includes a detailed illustration. C. Agardh (1828: 141), after having examined a specimen from Tasmania sent to him by Lamouroux, assigned the name to Ceramium filamentosum (Wulfen) C. Agardh (Spyridia filamentosa (Wulfen) Harvey (q.v.)). Sonder (1848 [1846–1848]: 189–190), however, believed that Lamouroux's illustrations were representative of another alga and applied the name to a plant collected by Preiss in Western Australia. J. Agardh (1851 [1851–1863]: 341, 446) continued to refer H. charoides Lamouroux to Spyridia filamentosa and described the Preiss collection as Hypnea seticulosa, to which he added a Gunn collection from Tasmania. Weber-van Bosse (1928: 449) considered the Preiss collection as the type of Hypnea charoides and from this reference point segregated the Tasmanian element as H. charoides var. seticulosa (J. Agardh) Weber-van Bosse. According to Womersley (1994: 443), the specimen illustrated by Lamouroux is apparently not in his herbarium (at CN) so that Lamouroux's illustrations must serve as lectotype until the specimen is found, in accordance with Art. 9.9. The status of the name Hypnea charoides thus remains uncertain. It would be useful to select an epitype in accordance with Art. 9.7 in support of Womersley's interpretation of Lamouroux's illustrations. Hypnea musciformis var. ramulosa was referred to H. charoides by Børgesen (1943: 57–58), who interpreted the latter name on the basis of Lamouroux's illustrations. Dickie's misapplication of the name H. divaricata was noted by Børgesen (1943: 57–58), that of Sonder and Harvey by Womersley (1994: 441), who thought that Fucus divaricatus R. Brown ex Turner (Hypnea divaricata (C. Agardh) Greville [p. 297]) was probably referable to H. charoides. Børgesen (1943: 56–57) compared his Mauritius material with H. charoides var. indica Weber-van Bosse (1928: 449, figs. 188, 189; type locality: Bonthain, Celebes, Indonesia), but did not make an infraspecific commitment.