Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Fucales

Family Sargassaceae

Sargassum C. Agardh

Thalli differentiated into holdfast, short primary axis and relatively long and re-branched primary laterals. Branches usually foliose (bearing leaf-like laterals). Vesicles present on thalli. Receptacles borne in the axils of laterals.

This is a large, mainly tropical genus with 336 species currently recognized (Guiry & Guiry 2014). Three are recorded from the south coast, with descriptions here by L. Mattio. (See Mattio et al. (2015) for a recent revision of South African Sargassum).

Key to south coast species

1a. Main axes triangular in cross-section	S. incisifolium
1b. Main axes terete in cross-section	2
2a. Main axes smooth	S. elegans
2b. Main axes with spines or studded with pointed swellings	S. cymosum var. scabriusculum

References Sargassum

Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2014. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched 15 April 2014.

Mattio L, Anderson RJ, Bolton JJ. 2015. A revision of the genus Sargassum (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) in South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 98: 95-107.

 

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.