Resumo

ARDITO, Sonia  e  GOMEZ, Santiago. Phenology pattern of a population of Gelidium serrulatum  J. Agardh (Rhodophyta, Gelidiales), Vargas State, Venezuela. Acta Bot. Venez. [online]. 2005, vol.28, n.1, pp.101-112. ISSN 0084-5906.

    Information on the reproductive phenology of Gelidium serrulatum J.Agardh, a red algal species with economical importance is given. In the studied population, during the whole year, the different phases of the life cycle of this species are presented: tetrasporophytes, male and female gametophytes, being tetrasporophytes more abundant than gametophytes, which implies an unbalance in the proportion 1:1 between them; on the other hand, the proportions among male and female gametophytes are similar. This indicates that the sexual reproduction is a probable event in the studied population; however, the unbalance observed between tetraspoprophytes and gametophytes suggest that additional mechanisms of reproduction could be interacting in the studied population’s maintenance, one of these may be the reported low viability for tetraspores in this species.

Palavras-chave : Gametophyte; Gelidiales; Gelidium; phenology; tetrasporophyte.