Marine algal (seaweed) flora of Faial Island, Azores

This occurrence dataset lists the macroalgal taxonomic records compiled from occasional collections done at Faial Island (central group of the Azores archipelago) and provides information on each species’ ecology and occurrence on the island’s littoral. Collections were undertaken mainly by Island Aquatic Research Group of the Azorean Biodiversity Centre of the University of the Azores (https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/sub-team/island-aquatic-ecology) at the littoral and shallow sublittoral levels. A total of 95 specimens are registered (including taxa identified only at generic level) belonging to 59 taxa of macroalgae comprising 33 Rhodophyta, 15 Chlorophyta and 11 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). From these, 12 are new records for the island, three are introduced, and eight have an uncertain status. Most species were only sporadically observed on the island’s littoral, but five Rhodophyta were commonly found, namely: Chondracanthus acicularis (Roth) Fredericq, Corallina officinalis Linnaeus, Halarachnion ligulatum (Woodward) Kützing, Hypnea musciformis (Wulfen) J.V.Lamouroux and Osmundea hybrida (A. P. de Candolle) K. W. Nam. Although representing an incomplete list of the seaweeds occurring in Faial, this occurrence dataset is a contribution to the knowledge of the marine alga flora of that island. For each taxon presented, it provides general information on its occurrence on the island’s littoral, and thus contributes to address several biodiversity shortfalls (see Hortal et al. 2015), namely the need to catalogue the Azorean macroalgae (Linnean shortfall) and improve the current information on their local and regional geographic distribution (Wallacean shortfall), as well as on species abundances and dynamics in space (Prestonian shortfall). It aims to provide information for biological studies such as systematics, diversity and conservation, biological monitoring, climate change and ecology, and for academics, students, government, private organizations, and the general public.