A sublittoral population of Pleurophycus gardneri Setchell and Saunders 1900 (Phaeophyceae: Laminariaceae) in central California

Published distributional records for the stipitate kelp Pleurophycus gardneri Setchell and Saunders 1900 (Phaeophyceae: Laminariaceae) indicae a geographic range from Montague Island (59°58’N, 147°22W), Alaska to Fort Bragg (39°27’N, 123°47’W), California (Druehl 1969, 1970; Kjeldsen 1972). P. gardneri is found primarily in rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal locations (Scagel 1967; Nicholson 1976). In California, populations of P. gardneri have been reported only from the lower rocky intertidal near Fort Bragg (Kjeldsen 1972).

On 7 and 8 July 1982 and 23 March 1984 we censused stipitate kelps during SCUBS dives at a site 2.3 km south southeast of Pt. Sierra Nevada (35°41’ N, 121°18’W). we counted kelps in 1 x 5-m plots along a 50-m tape laid across the bottom in an arbitrarily predetermined direction from the skiff anchor. We also measured water depth at 1-m intervals along the tape, using a SCUBA depth gauge. On 20 August 1982, we used the same tehniques to sample kelp densities at a site 2.4 km east southeast of Pt. Piedras Blancas (35°39’N, 121°15’W).

The most abundant kelps at the Pt. Sierra Nevada ste were Pterygophora californica Ruprect 1852 (Phaeophyceae: Alariaceae) and a species we tentatively identified as P. gardneri (Table 1). Based on specimens we collected on 8 July 1982, our field identification was subsequently confirmed by I. A. Abbot. Voucher specimens were placed in the Gilbert M. Smith Herbarium at Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California.