SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 89, NO. 11, 10 DECEMBER 2005 1797 Table 1. (Contd…) Seaweed Pre-monsoon Monsoon Post-monsoon H. valentiae (Turner) Montage ++ – +++ Sarconema filiforme (Sonder) Kylin + + ++ S. scinaioides Børgesen – – + Champia compressa Harvey – – ++ C. globulifera Børgesen – – + Centroceras clavulatum (C. Agardh) Montagne + – ++ Ceramium rubrum Auctorum + + ++ Wrangelia argus (Montagne) Montagne ++ – – Caloglossa leprieurii (Montagne) G. Martens ++ ++ ++ Bostrychia tenella (Lamouroux) J. Agardh ++ ++ ++ Chondria dasyphylla (Woodward) J. Agardh + ++ ++ Laurencia papillosa (C. Agardh) Greville + – – Polysiphonia platycarpa Børgesen + – + +++ Dominant; ++ Common; + Sparse; – Absent. exhibiting live seaweeds, which could boost the ecotourism industry, and ulti- mately lead to the conservation of these species. 1. http://bhagirath.faithweb.com/daman_diu. html 2. Sreenivasa Rao, P. and Trivedi, M. K., In Taxonomy of Algae (eds Desikachary, T. V. and Raja Rao, V. N.), University of Madras Publication, 1980, pp. 255–260. 3. Srinivasan, K. S., In Phycologia Indica: Icones of Indian Marine Algae, Vol. – I, BSI Publication, Calcutta, 1969, p. 52. 4. Srinivasan, K. S., In Phycologia Indica: Icones of Indian Marine Algae, Vol. – II, BSI Publication, Calcutta, 1973, p. 60. 5. Mantri, V. A., Joshi, H. V. and Zaidi, S. H., Seaweed Res. Util., 2004, 26, 231–236. 6. May, R. M., Science, 1988, 241, 1441– 1449. 7. Tylor, W. R., In Algae of the Eastern Tropical and Subtropical Coasts of the Americas, University of Michigan Publi- cation, 1960, p. 662. 8. Desikachary, T. V., Krishnamurthy, V., and Balkrishnan, M. S., In Rhodophyta – II. Taxonomy Part – II A, Madras Science Foundation Publication, 1990, p. 279. 9. Mishra, J. N., In Phaeophyceae in India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, 1967, p. 203. 10. Krishnamurthy, V., Algae of India and Neighboring Countries – Chlorophycota, Oxford and IBH, 2000, p. 210. 11. Singh, J. S., Curr. Sci. 2002, 82, 638–647. 12. Sahoo, D., Nivedita and Debasish, In Seaweeds of Indian Coast, A.P.H. Pub- lishing Corporation, New Delhi, 2001, p. 283. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the Director, CSMCRI, Bhavnagar for encour- agement. Thanks are also due to the Head, Marine Algae and Marine Environment Disci- pline, CSMCRI for providing facilities. Received 23 December 2004; revised accep- ted 16 October 2005 VAIBHAV A. MANTRI P. V. SUBBA RAO* Marine Algae and Marine Environment Discipline, Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar 364 002, India *For correspondence. e-mail: pvsubbarao@csmcri.org A new Orontobryum Mitt. ex Fleisch. from Darjeeling, eastern Himalayas Genus Orontobryum Mitt. ex Fleisch. was established by Fleischer 1 from Sikkim, eastern Himalayas with its type species Orontobryum hookeri (Mitt.) Fleisch. At the time of institution of this genus, Fleischer was little reluctant whether it should be separated as new genus because of its close affinity with genus Macro- thamnium Fleisch. belonging to family Hylocomiaceae (order Hypnobryales), which was also the view of Brotherus 2 . However, Brotherus 3 revised his opinion and placed the Orontobryum in the family Hookeriaceae (order Hookeriales). The status of the genus given by Brotherus 3 has been followed by Gangulee 4 and the same is maintained during the present study. Genus Orontobryum was earlier represented in India by two species, i.e. O. hookeri (Mitt.) Fleisch. and O. recur- vulum Gangulee known from Sikkim, and Sikkim and Bhutan respectively, and is endemic to eastern Himalayas. During the recent study on the bryophytes of Rim- bick, Darjeeling some specimens approach- ing to genus Orontobryum have been encountered. A critical and comparative study has revealed that these specimens are clearly distinctive from the hitherto known species of the genus. Hence it is described here as Orontobryum darjee- lingensis sp. nov., which is new to the science. Orontobryum darjeelingensis Nath, Asthana & Sahu sp. nov. (Figure 1) Folia late cordata ± 1 mm longa et ± 1 mm lata, margineum serrata–dentata ad basa. Ramorum folia ovata–oblonga 0.064–0.7 mm longa et ± 0.35 mm lata, margineum dentata ad mediana. Foliorum cellulae apica 32–40 × 8–12 μm, mediana 40–44 × 4 μm, cellulae alares 30–32 × 25–37.5 × 12.5–20 μm, pale-light brown. Ramorum foliorum cellulae apica 34– 40 × 4–7 μm, mediana 40–68 × 4 μm,