Species of Ulva have a wide range of commercial applications and are increasingly being recognized as promising candidates for integrated aquaculture. In South Africa, Ulva has been commercially cultivated in integrated seaweed-abalone aquaculture farms since 2002, with more than 2000 tonnes of biomass cultivated per annum in land-based paddle raceways. However, the identity of the species of Ulva grown on these farms remains uncertain. We therefore characterized samples of Ulva cultivated in five integrated multi-trophic aquaculture farms (IMTA) across a wide geographical range and compared them with foliose Ulva specimens from neighboring seashores. The molecular markers employed for this study were the chloroplast-encoded Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (rbcL), the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) of the nuclear, and the chloroplast elongation factor tufA. All currently cultivated specimens of Ulva were molecularly resolved as a single species, U. lacinulata. The same species has been cultivated for over a decade, although a few specimens of two other species were also present in early South African IMTA systems. The name Ulva uncialis is adopted for the Ulva “Species A” by Fort et al. (2021), Molecular Ecology Resources, 22, 86) significantly extending the distribution range for this species. A comparison with wild Ulva on seashores close to the farms resulted in five new distribution records for South Africa (U. lacinulata, U. ohnoi, U. australis, U. stenophylloides, and U. aragoënsis), the first report of a foliose form of U. compressa in the region, and one new distribution record for Namibia (U. australis). This study reiterates the need for DNA confirmation, especially when identifying morphologically simple macroalgae with potential commercial applications.

中文翻译：

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确定南非海藻-鲍鱼综合养殖场商业养殖的石莼（石莼科、绿藻门）的身份

石莼物种具有广泛的商业应用，并且越来越被认为是综合水产养殖的有希望的候选者。在南非，石莼自 2002 年以来一直在海藻-鲍鱼综合水产养殖场进行商业化养殖，每年在陆地桨式水道中养殖超过 2000 吨生物量。然而，这些农场种植的石莼物种的身份仍然不确定。因此，我们对五个综合多营养水产养殖场（IMTA）在广泛地理范围内养殖的石莼样本进行了表征，并将它们与来自邻近海岸的叶石莼标本进行了比较。本研究使用的分子标记是叶绿体编码的 Ribulose-1,5-二磷酸羧化酶加氧酶 ( rbc L)、核内转录间隔区 (ITS) 和叶绿体延伸因子tuf A。石莼被分子解析为单一物种，U. lacinulata。尽管早期南非 IMTA 系统中也存在其他两个物种的一些标本，但同一物种已栽培了十多年。Fort 等人为石莼“A 种”命名为Ulva uncialis 。(2021),分子生态资源, 22, 86) 显着扩展了该物种的分布范围。与养殖场附近海边的野生石莼进行比较，得出了南非五种新的分布记录（U. lacinulata、U. ohnoi、U. australis、U. stenophylloides和U. aragoënsis），这是关于叶状形式的第一份报告的U . 该地区的compressa以及纳米比亚 ( U. australis ) 的一项新分布记录。这项研究重申了 DNA 确认的必要性，特别是在鉴定具有潜在商业应用的形态简单的大型藻类时。