Thorea

Thorea is a genus of fresh water algae in the division Rhodophyta (red algae). Thorea is a small alga with filaments up to 200 cm long, dark green in colour and not red as are marine Rhodophyta. The filaments have only as few secondary branches.

Thorea is distributed throughout temperate and tropical regions.

The genus was circumscribed by Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent in Ann. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. vol.12 on page 126 in 1808.

The genus name of Thorea is in honour of Jean Thore (1762–1823), who was a French botanist and physician who practiced medicine in the town of Dax.

Species

As accepted by WoRMS;

• Thorea bachmannii Template:Au
• Thorea brodensis Template:Au
• Thorea clavata Template:Au
• Thorea conturba Template:Au
• Thorea flagelliformis Template:Au
• Thorea gaudichaudii Template:Au
• Thorea hispida Template:Au
• Thorea okadae Template:Au
• Thorea okaidai Template:Au
• Thorea prowsei Template:Au
• Thorea riekei Template:Au
• Thorea siamensis Template:Au
• Thorea violacea Template:Au
• Thorea zollingeri Template:Au

Former species;

• Thorea andina Template:Au accepted as Thorea hispida (synonym)
• Thorea chilensis Template:Au accepted as Myriogloea chilensis Template:Au (synonym)
• Thorea lehmannii Template:Au accepted as Thorea hispida (synonym)
• Thorea ramosissima Template:Au accepted as Thorea hispida (synonym)

Thorea in UK

There is only one species of Thorea in the British Isles: Thorea hispida Template:Au (Synonyms: Thorea anadina Template:Au, T. lehmannii Template:Au and T. ramosissima Template:Au).

The first record of Thorea ramosissima in the British Isles is in Harvey's Manual (1841): Found in a pool in a bog in the County Donegal Mountains, going from Letterkenny to Dunfanaghy; July. These specimens are in the Ulster Museum (BEL: F42–F47), but proved to have been incorrectly identified and were specimens of Batrachospermum.