CARRAGENOPHYTAS ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

The carragenophytas species are defined as macro-algae, members of the Phylum Rodophyta, Rodophyceae Class, Florideophycidae Subclass, Gigartinales Order. The most important commercial species at the international level are the Betaphycus, Eucheuma and Kappaphycus genera and at the national level the species belonging to the Gigartina, Mazzaella and Sarcothalia genera. Because of its commercial importance, the Gigartina genus has been the object of investigations such as: Ecology of populations in estuaries and open coast in the North-East Atlantic species; it has been studied by Mathieson and Tveter (1976) in relation with its carragenine quantity and quality. Studies about the response to photoperiods (Guiry, 1984; Guiry et al., 1984) have identified reproductive “windows” suggesting that the explanations for vegetative multiplication are more exclusive each time, different from gametangial or tetra-sporangial production in populations of high latitudes from a generalized European species. Genetic determination of ramification patterns and tolerance limits to temperature has been established for several species (Guiry et al., 1987; Buschmann, 2001). Species cultivation viability in artificial substrates has been evaluated by Mumford y Waaland (1980), and it showed commercial potential. This genus has distribution worldwide in warm and cold seas. However, very few species happen in subtropical regions. The particularly rich species biodiversity centers are California, Japan, New Zealand, Chile y South Africa (Guiry, M.D & Guiry, G.M. 2011).