Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Colaconematales

Family Colaconemataceae

Colaconema nemalionis (De Notaris ex L. Dufour) Stegenga 1985: 320, fig. 22

Plants bushy, up to 2 or 3 mm tall. Basal system multicellular filamentous, epiphytic or endophytic. Erect filaments 9.5-11 µm in diameter, the cells 2-5 times longer than broad. Cells with a single parietal chloroplast and one pyrenoid. Indeterminate laterals of varying abundance, polystichously arranged. Monosporangia in clusters on main axes and laterals; sporangia ovate, 16.5-19.5 x 9.5-11 µm . Tetrasporangia rarely seen in nature, in clusters like the monosporangia or single and pedicellate, 18-21.5 x 14.5-17 µm, cruciately divided. Gametophytes known from culture, with persistent basal spore, otherwise identical to the tetrasporophyte.

Collections, ecology and regional distribution

Recorded from Hondeklip Bay on the west coast to Kei Mouth (5-43). Epiphytic or epi/endophytic on several algae; endophytic parts only produced on hosts with looser surface tissue, such as Codium spp.

World distribution: Probably worldwide in temperate seas (Stegenga et al. 1997).

Note: Stegenga et al. (1997) point out that this species is almost certainly identical to Acrochaetium corymbiferum (Thuret) Batters, the life history of which is described by Abdel-Rahman et al. (1990).

 

Colaconema nemalionis, erect axis with monosporangia. (Reproduced from Stegenga et al. 1997).

 

References Colaconema nemalionis

Abdel-Rahman, M.H., Magne, M.H. & Bidoux, C. 1990. Le cycle de developpement de l’ Acrochaetium corymbiferum (Rhodophyceae, Acrochaetiales). Cryptogamie, Algologie 11: 13-22.

Stegenga, H. (1985). The marine Acrochaetiaceae (Rhodophyta) of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 51: 291-330, 25 figs, 1 table.

Stegenga, H., Bolton, J.J. and R. J. Anderson. 1997. Seaweeds of the South African west coast. Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium 18: 655 pp.

 

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 April 2024.