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Abstract

In spite of their great ecological and economic importance, nongeniculate corallines are poorly known in the world, especially in Brazil. The present work was aimed at facilitating access to available information on this group, attempting to fill the gap in the knowledge of the Brazilian macroalgae flora. These algae have been studied since the 18th century and were initially considered to be members of the animal kingdom, part of the corals group. At the end the 19th century, with the studies of Mikael Heggelund Foslie, a jump in the taxonomic studies in coralline algae was observed. Many of the species proposed by this author are used until today, as is the case of Lithothamnion brasiliense. Nowadays, with the use of modern techniques for materials processing in light microscopy and the use of scanning electron microscopy, a new jump has benn observed in the taxonomic studies. At the moment are accepted approximately 26 genera. However, is still difficult to be clear about the correct number of species. Considering the growing interest in exploiting these algae, this equally increases the responsibility of the phycological community in making an invetory of this diversity, subsidizing the rational preservation and perhaps the maintainable use of this resource.