Gelidium variabile J. Agardh, 1851 [1851–1863]: 468 (type locality: Madras, India fide pers. comm. from I. Price).—Harvey, 1857a: no. 33.— Kützing, 1869: 9, pl. 23: figs. c, d.— J. Agardh, 1876: 547.— Piccone, 1886: 75.— G. Murray, 1887: 28.— Piccone, 1889a: 45.— Schmitz, 1895a: 139.— Schmitz, 1895b: 26.
Gelidiopsis variabilis (J. Agardh) Schmitz, 1895a: 148.—Schmitz & Hauptfleisch, 1897e: 389.— De Toni, 1900: 410.— Mazza, 1907 [1905–1918]: 87–88.— Reinbold, 1907: 570.— Weber-van Bosse, 1913b: 116.— Weber-van Bosse, 1914: 280.— De Toni, 1924: 244.— Weber-van Bosse, 1928: 426.— Børgesen, 1935: 43–44.— Børgesen, 1936: 81.— Børgesen, 1937b: 321.— Børgesen, 1938b: 212.— Børgesen, 1950b: 15.— Kylin, 1956: 256.— Durairatnam, 1961a: 64, pl. XI: figs. 8, 9.— Varma, 1961: 224.— K. Srinivasan, 1965: 246.— S. Dixit, 1966: 12.— Desikachary, 1967: pl. IV: fig. 5.— Umamaheswara Rao, 1969d: 43.— V. Krishnamurthy & H. Joshi, 1970: 21.— Umamaheswara Rao & Sreeramulu, 1970a: 36, figs. 32, 39.— Rhyne, 1971: 59.— Subbaramaiah, 1971b: 21.— Subbaramaiah, 1974: 59.— Umamaheswara Rao, 1974a: 302.— Bhanderi & Trivedi, 1975: tables 1, 2.— Jaasund, 1976: 87, fig. 176.— Bhanderi, 1977: 847–849, fig. 1, table 1.— Jaasund, 1977c: 421.— Chauhan, 1978: table 4.— Chauhan & Mairh, 1978: 35.— Farghaly, 1980: 163.— Lawson, 1980: 45.— Moorjani, 1980b: 460.— Sreenivasa Rao & Trivedi, 1980a: 93–95, fig. 1.— Kaliaperumal & Umamaheswara Rao, 1982: 265–270, figs. 1, 2, table I.— Nair, Sobha, & Arunachalam, 1982: 267 (table 1).— Muralikrishnamurty, 1983: 85, tables 1, 2.— Umamaheswara Rao & Kaliaperumal, 1983: 45–52, figs. 1–5.— Untawale, Dhargalkar, & Agadi, 1983: [32].— Agadi, 1985: 38.— Dhargalkar, 1985: 80, fig. 1.— Sobha & Nair, 1985: 22.— P. Subba Rao et al., 1985: 33.— Nair et al., 1986: 737.— G. Rao & Umamaheswara Rao, 1986: 103.— Rengasamy & Prema, 1986: 67–72, figs. 1–10.— Bolton & Stegenga, 1987: 174.— Chennubhotla, Kaliaperumal, & Kalimuthu, 1987a: 106–107.— Kaliaperumal & Umamaheswara Rao, 1987: 201–202, fig. 1, table 1.— R. Norris, 1987h: 240.— Rengasamy & Prema, 1987: 1, 2, figs. 1, 2, table 1.— Umamaheswara Rao & Kaliaperumal, 1987: 193–198, fig. 2.— Sobha, Devi, & Nair, 1988: 35.— Untawale, Reddy, & Deshmukhe, 1989: table 1.— Kaliaperumal, 1990: 87 ff., figs. 1–4.— V. Krishnamurthy & Balasundaram, 1990: 11.— V. Krishnamurthy et al., 1990: figs. 3, 5, 8.— Umamaheswara Rao, 1990: 324, tables 2, 5, 7, 8.— Sofiamma et al., 1991: 56, tables I–IV.— Kalimuthu, Kaliaperumal, & Ramalingam, 1992: 123.— Maya & Nair, 1992: 26.— Kalugina-Gutnik, 1993: 55.— Nair et al., 1993: 186, 192, 193.
Ceratodictyon variabile (J. Agardh) R. Norris, 1987h: 243–245, figs. 1–9 (`variabilis').—Untawale, Reddy, & Ambiye, 1989: table 1.— Coppejans & Prud'homme van Reine, 1992a: 186.— Farrell, Critchley, & Aken, 1993: 153.
Taxonomic synonym:
Acrocarpus gracilis Kützing, 1849: 761–762 (type locality: Cayenne, French Guiana).
Gelidiopsis gracilis (Kützing) J. Feldmann, 1931a: 157.—Murthy, Bhattacharya, & Radia, 1978: 382.— A. Singh, Ramakrishna, & Murthy, 1980: 185.— Untawale, Dhargalkar, & Agadi, 1983: [32].— Nair et al., 1986: 737.— Kalugina-Gutnik, Perestenko, & Titlyanova, 1992: 19 (table 1).— Titlyanova, Perestenko, & Kalugina-Gutnik, 1992: 43.
Misapplied name (fide Mazza, 1907 [1905–1918]: 87):
Gelidium acrocarpum.—Hauck, 1888 [1886–1889]: 89.
INDIAN OCEAN DISTRIBUTION: Diego Garcia Atoll, India, Indonesia (Java and Sumba), Kenya, Laccadive Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania.
Note: The synonymy was proposed by R. Norris (1987h: 245). The name Gelidiopsis gracilis is usually accredited to Vickers (1905: 61), who published such a binomial without a description but with reference to Gelidium gracile Grunow, a manuscript name. There is no proof in the literature that Gelidiopsis gracilis Vickers, nom. inval., Gelidium gracile Grunow (mscr.), and Acrocarpus gracilis Kützing are all based on the same type. The combination was unequivocally made by J. Feldmann (l.c.).