First report of any species of the red algal order Nemaliales from mainland Ecuador: Neoizziella asiatica (Liagoraceae, Rhodophyta)

The benthic marine algae of the mainland coast of Ecuador are poorly known mainly due to a lack of collections. Currently, DNA barcoding is the preferred method to identify species of benthic marine algae worldwide, as morpho-anatomical characters are inadequate to distinguish many species of macroalgae. We used the red algal barcode rbcL-3P to identify specimens collected in January 2020 from Manabí, Ecuador as Neoizziella asiatica. This is the first member of the red algal order Nemaliales to be reported from the mainland coast of Ecuador and extends the distribution of this alga by 1,100 km to the south from Panama.