Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Sphacelariales

Family Stypocaulaceae

Halopteris filicina (Grateloup) Kützing 1843: 293

Plants brown, 2-3 cm tall, delicate and feathery, alternately pinnately branched, with a single main axis and up to 4 orders of laterals. Main axis ca. 100 µm in diameter except near base where somewhat corticated by down-growing rhizoids; these rhizoids forming matted holdfast. Successive orders of branches becoming progressively narrower. Structure of larger medullary cells covered by a single layered cortex of small cells, further cortication only near base of plant, by down-growing rhizoids.

Unilocular sporangia borne in axils of branches, ovoid, 50-60 µm long x 35-50 µm wide. Plurilocular sporangia not seen.

Collections, ecology and regional distribution

Recorded from the Agulhas Bank (deeper water off Cape Agulhas) to Aliwal Shoal in southern Kwazulu-Natal (23-50). Sublittoral: mainly a deeper water species, collected down to 38 m.

World distribution: tropical and warm temperate Atlantic, Mediterranean, Japan, New Zealand, Hawai’i (Guiry & Guiry 2012).

Type locality: Montpellier, Hérault, France (Silva et al. 1996).

Note: This species was first recorded in South Africa by Anderson & Stegenga (1989) from Bird Island, Algoa Bay, at 20 m depth.

 

Halopteris filicina, 25 m depth, Agulhas Bank - greenish colour due to formalin preservation).

Halopteris filicina, 25 m depth, Agulhas Bank – basal part showing matted rhizoidal holdfast.

Halopteris filicina, Bird Island – stained slide material.

Halopteris filicina, Bird Island – cellular detail, stained slide material.

Halopteris filicina, Bird Island – stained slide material, detail of unilocular sporangia.

Halopteris filicina, Bird Island – stained slide material, vegetative structure.

Halopteris filicina, Bird Island – stained slide material, apical cells.

 

References Halopteris filicina

Anderson, R.J. & H. Stegenga (1989). Subtidal algal communities at Bird Island, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Botanica Marina 32: 299-311.

Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2012. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched January 2012.

Kützing, F.T. (1843). Phycologia generalis oder Anatomie, Physiologie und Systemkunde der Tange... Mit 80 farbig gedruckten Tafeln, gezeichnet und gravirt vom Verfasser. pp. [part 1]: [i]-xxxii, [1]-142, [part 2:] 143-458, 1, err.], pls 1-80. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus.

Silva, P.C., Basson, P.W. & Moe, R.L. (1996). Catalogue of the benthic marine algae of the Indian Ocean. University of California Publications in Botany 79: 1-1259.

 

Cite this record as:

Anderson RJ, Stegenga H, Bolton JJ. 2016. Seaweeds of the South African South Coast.
World Wide Web electronic publication, University of Cape Town, http://southafrseaweeds.uct.ac.za; Accessed on 19 December 2024.