Red Algae Beach, Sydney, Australia

A major research initiative to reconstruct the Red Algal Tree of Life (RedToL) using phylogenetic and genomic approaches is funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the Assembling the Tree of Life Program.
Species of red algae
Around 6,500 to 10,000 species are known, nearly all of which are marine, with about 200 that only live in fresh water. However, estimates of the number of real species vary by 100%.