Novel alpine algae from New Zealand: Chlorophyta Author Novis, Phil M. Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, PO Box 40, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand; email: novisp @ landcareresearch. co. nz Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand Author Visnovsky, Gabriel text Phytotaxa 2012 2012-01-01 39 1 30 http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.39.1.1 journal article 6144 10.11646/phytotaxa.39.1.1 836e6558-6d05-4ad0-8a82-d11b7c8f9b37 1179-3163 4894684 Pseudococcomyxa simplex (Mainx) Fott Reference: Novis et al . 2008: 353–354 , Fig 3A–I . Observations:— Previously, only data for rbc L were available for this species from Mt Philistine. The 18S data presented here show that Pseudococcomyxa simplex from Mt Philistine is a close relative of P. simplex UTEX 274 ( Fig. 8 ). Both of these strains belong to a clade that includes species of Coccomyxa as well as Paradoxia spp. This clade is distinct from a second clade comprising other species of Coccomyxa ; clearly this genus is polyphyletic and requires revision. Interestingly, the oblique division plane characteristic of Pseudococcomyxa ( Broady 1987 , Novis et al . 2008 ) is also evident in Paradoxia multiseta Svirenko 1928 during vegetative division ( Hegewald & Reymond 1987 ). Some species currently regarded as Coccomyxa , such as C. confluens (Kützing) Fott 1974 , appear to share this feature (Ettl & Gärtner 1995 ), although how it is distributed phylogenetically is presently unclear. It may be a morphological feature that can be used to separate the two clades.