ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the phycological research and gives a historical
overview of papers dealing with macroalgae from the East African coast.
A review of the recent progress towards a marine algal flora of the region
is presented. Additionally a limited number of taxonomic problems are
discussed, with emphasis on examples from Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Problems comprise generic, specific and subspecific distinctions,
perpetuation of wrong identifications from reference works, and checklists
with doubtful identifications that lack voucher specimens. Finally a
list of 91 new species for Kenya (23), Tanzania (24), the East African
coast (26) and the Indian Ocean (18) is added.