Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Cladophorales

Family Cladophoraceae

Willeella ordinata Børgesen 1930: 155, figs 3, 4 a, b; pl. I [1]: fig. 1

Plants green to dark green, 4-8 cm tall, comprising bushy tufts with distinct main axes; attached by rhizoids from basal cell. Growth apical and intercalary. Cells thinner but much longer towards bases of axes. Branching in one plane, from distal ends of cells, opposite in distal regions, with some flabellate branching lower down. Terminal branches distinctly tapering. Angle of branching between laterals and main axis 35-45^o in opposite branches, 20-65^o in flabellate branches. Apical cells conical with blunt tip and thickening of cell wall at apex, 30-45 µm in diameter, 2-3.5 times as long as broad; cells of terminal branches 45-120 µm in diameter, 1-3 times as long as broad.

Description based on Leliaert & Coppejans (2003).

Collections ecology and regional distribution

Recorded from Mkambati to Mabibi (north of Sodwana Bay in Kwazulu-Natal) (47-57). Epilithic, from intertidal rock pools to 37m depth (Leliaert & Coppejans 2003).

World distribution: A “disjunct distribution pattern in the tropical to warm-temperate Atlantic and Indo-Pacific” regions (Leliaert & Coppejans 2003).

Type locality: India (Leliaert & Coppejans 2003).

Note: this species was previously called Cladophora ordinata, but the genus Willeella was resurrected by Boedeker et al. (2016). For further details and illustrations of South African material see Leliaert & Coppejans (2003).

 

Willeella ordinata, Palm Beach, KZN

Willeella ordinata, detail of cells and branching.

 

References Willeella ordinata

Boedeker, C., Leliaert, F & G.C. Zuccarello. 2016. Molecular phylogeny of the Cladophoraceae (Cladophorales, Ulvophyceae), with the resurrection of Acrocladus Näegeli and Willeella Børgesen, and the description of Lurbica gen.nov. and Pseudorhizoclonium gen.nov. Journal of Phycology 52: 905-928.

Børgesen, F. (1930). Some Indian green and brown algae especially from the shores of the Presidency of Bombay. Journal of the Indian Botanical Society 9: 151-174, 10 figs, Plates I, II.

Leliaert, F. and E. Coppejans. 2003. The marine species of Cladophora (Chlorophyta) from the South African east coast. Nova Hedwigia 76: 48-52.

 

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 26 April 2024.