Occurrence of an Unusual Species, Dictyota hauckiana Nizam. ( Phaeophycota ), in the Coastal Waters of Pakistan

A brown alga with very peculiar characters, Dictyota hauckiana (Dictyotaceae), was collected from the Arabian Sea coast at Karachi, Pakistan, during March 2007−April 2010 and investigated for its morphology, anatomy, and reproductive structures. In the sampled specimens, proliferations were observed to arise from both margins; in some cases, they were present on one margin only and others completely lack or contain a few of them, at the margin a single marginal cell was present in the upper part, whereas a group of 5−6 marginal cells constitutes the basal portion, near the margin or at some places in the basal part cortical cells were 2−3 layers including the epidermis. A detailed study of the reproductive structures was carried out for the first time.