Biology
Porphyra is a genus of foliose red algae in the family Bangiaceae. It is a large genus, with over 100 species
reported worldwide in temperate and cool regions of the globe (Yoshida et al. 1997). Recently, this genus has
undergone a major taxonomic revision, resulting in the splitting of Porphyra into 8 genera based on molecular
evidence (Sutherland et al. 2011). Unfortunately, most species of Porphyra cannot be identified morphological
and DNA sequence analysis has to be performed by the grower or a lab equipped to do so in order to get positive
species identification. With the splitting of the genus Porphyra, it is now difficult to identify even the genus
that specimens belong to morphologically. For the remainder of this manual, the term nori will be used to refer