Mediterranean Lithophyllum stictiforme (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) is a genetically diverse species complex: implications for species circumscription, biogeography and conservation of coralligenous habitats

Lithophyllum species in the Mediterranean Sea function as algal bioconstructors, contributing to the formation of biogenic habitats such as coralligenous concretions. In such habitats, thalli of Lithophyllum , consisting of crusts or lamellae with entire or lobed margins, have been variously referred to as either one species, L. stictiforme , or two species, L. stictiforme and L. cabiochiae , in the recent literature. We investigated species...