The coralline genera Sporolithon and Heydrichia (Sporolithales, Rhodophyta) clarified by sequencing type material of their generitypes and other species

Interspecific systematics in the red algal order Sporolithales remains problematic. To re‐evaluate its species, DNA analyses were performed on historical type material and recently collected specimens assigned to the two genera Sporolithon and Heydrichia. Partial rbcL sequences from the lectotype specimens of Sporolithon ptychoides (the generitype species) and Sporolithon molle, both from El Tor, Egypt, are exact matches to field‐collected topotype specimens. Sporolithon crassum and Sporolithon erythraeum also have the same type locality; material of the former appears to no longer exist, and we were unable to PCR amplify DNA from the latter. A new species, Sporolithon eltorensis, is described from the same type locality. We have not found any morpho‐anatomical characters that distinguish these three species. No sequenced specimens reported as S. ptychoides from other parts of the world represent this species, and likely reports of S. ptychoides and S. molle based on morpho‐anatomy are incorrect. A partial rbcL sequence from the holotype of Sporolithon dimotum indicates it is not a synonym of S. ptychoides, and data from the holotype of S. episporum confirm its specific recognition. DNA sequences from topotype material of Heydrichia woelkerlingii, the generitype species, and isotype material of Heydrichia cerasina confirm that these are distinct species; the taxon reported to be H. woelkerlingii from New Zealand is likely an undescribed species. Type specimens of all other Sporolithon and Heydrichia species need to be sequenced to confirm that they are distinct species; morpho‐anatomical studies have proved inadequate for this task.