紫菜是我国重要的海洋生物资源之一，具有重要的经济、生态和文化价值。我国紫菜物种丰富，传统分类为紫菜物种鉴定做出了不可磨灭的贡献。目前基于DNA条形码，紫菜分类体系正不断修订，然而这些修订既没有我国藻类学者参与，也没有分析我国紫菜样品。我国紫菜分类研究成为世界紫菜分类研究“拼图”中缺失的一块。在对我国紫菜分类研究中，我们发现我国紫菜有隐含的多样性，许多物种在新分类体系中归属不明，大部分特有物种没有模式标本的DNA条形码因此难以对新发现的未知分类单元进行鉴定，以及传统分类与分子分类冲突等问题。针对这些问题，本项目以已有的680余株紫菜标本为基础，对未采集样品区采样、制作标本，以大标本量为基础，用DNA条形码分析我国紫菜物种多样性和在新分类体系中的归属，结合形态确定未知物种身份，设立我国紫菜已知物种的新标本和新物种的模式标本，以DNA条形码与形态一一对应为基础，探索传统与分子分类的契合点。

Porphyra sensu lato (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) is one of the most important marine biological resources in China with critical economic, ecological and cultural value. The species of Porphyra in China are diverse and traditional taxonomy based on morphology has contributed considerably to the species identification. However, when the global taxonomy of Porphyra was subject to a major revision based on molecular analyses, the taxonomy of this group lagged behind in China. Taxonomic changes have been made based on molecular data without the participation of Chinese phycologists or analysis of Chinese Porphyra samples. Given the diversity of Porphyra species in China coupled with the biogeographically strategic importance of the Chinese coast in the North Pacific, the lack of a molecular taxonomy of Porphyra in China therefore represents a major knowledge gap in the global understanding of this group of organisms. Based on our previous work, we have found considerable cryptic diversity in Chinese Porphyra, evidence of undescribed genera in the revised taxonomic system and the difficulty of identifying unknown taxa because of the lack of DNA barcodes from holotype materials. Furthermore, the considerable genetic diversity within Porphyra sensu lato is not reflected in the morphology. The aim of this project is to determine the biodiversity and generic relationship of Porphyra in China based on molecular taxonomy, to establish a reference collection or holotype for Chinese existing or new species, to review the morphological characters in the light of molecular result in order to assist with identification in the lag and field. To achieve these aims need an extensive collection. We already have a large herbaria collection (680 specimens) and in addition we will continue to collect from unsampled regions. This will not only fill a knowledge gap, but also provide valuable information to taxonomy, ecology, resource conservation and aquaculture studies.