Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Ceramiales

Family Delesseriaceae

Nienburgia pinnatifida (Suhr) Papenfuss 1968: 275

Plants bright red, to 5 (-8) cm tall, complanate, soft, membranous, with distinct, sparsely branched main axes lined with profuse short branchlets; main axes 2-3 mm wide except where flattened alae missing, with very prominent midrib, ovate in cross section, margins compoundly dentate and elaborate, marginal teeth often fimbriate and sometimes hooked. Axes flat, irregularly dichotomously branched and with distinct midrib; overlapping, regularly alternate side branches bearing finely-feathered, short (generally 1-1.5 cm long) branches usually arising from midrib.

Ecology, collections and regional distribution

Recorded from Algoa Bay to Kowie (36-39) but probably more widespread. Epilithic in shallow sublittoral and lower eulittoral zones.

Type locality Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth area) (Papenfuss 1968).

Note: Papenfuss (1968: 275) made the combination Nienburgia pinnatifida based on Nitophyllum pinnatifidum Suhr . He noted that Nitophyllum kowiensis Schmitz material “present in Tyson’s and Becker’s collections in the Bolus Herbarium” are the same species. Our description above is largely based on a number of Becker’s BOL specimens annotated by Papenfuss.

 

Nienburgia pinnatifida, Kowie.

Nienburgia pinnatifida, Kowie, showing compound dentation. Scale divisions = 1mm.

Nienburgia pinnatifida, fresh material from Port Alfred, showing detail of compound/fimbriate dentation and distinct midrib.

 

References Nienburgia pinnatifida

Papenfuss, GF. 1968. Notes on SA Marine algae V. Journal of South African Botany 34 (4): 267-287.

 

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.