Seaweeds of the South African South Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Order Ceramiales

Family Rhodomelaceae

Polysiphonia scopulorum Harvey 1855: 540

Plants mainly prostrate, with the apex of the main axes slightly turned downward. Creeping filaments attached by haptera (not arising from every segment ) continuous with a pericentral cell. Segments without cortication, with four pericentral cells about 1 – 2 times as long as broad, but much shorter near the apices of the plant. Erect filaments to about 2-3 mm tall, unbranched or with a few short laterals. Laterals of endogenous origin, mature laterals with a few trichoblasts. Mature (repent) axes to 65 µm in diameter, tapering to ca. 20 µm in the apex. Plants on the south coast are smaller than on the west coast, where erect axes grow to 20 mm tall and prostrate axes are up to 120 µm thick. Reproductive structures not seen in south coast specimens, but known in west coast material (Stegenga et al. 1997).

Collections, ecology and regional distribution

Recorded from the Cape Peninsula along the south coast to northern KwaZulu-Natal (15-58). Found in algal turfs, usually in the lower eulittoral; epilithic or epizoic on animal shells.

World distribution: virtually worldwide on temperate and tropical coasts (W. Guiry in Guiry & Guiry 2016).

Type locality: Rottnest Island, Western Australia (Silva et al. 1996).

 

Polysiphonia scopulorum. 1. Microscopic habit. 2. Apex of prostrate axis (note endogenous origin of erect branches). Reproduced from Stegenga et al. (1997).

Polysiphonia scopulorum. 1. Microscopic habit. 2. Apex of prostrate axis (note endogenous origin of erect branches). Reproduced from Stegenga et al. (1997).

 

References Polysiphonia scopulorum

Harvey, W.H. 1855. Some account of the marine botany of the colony of western Australia. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy 22: 525-566.

Wendy Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2016. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 07 June 2016.

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.

Stegenga, H., Bolton, J.J. & 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 18 November 2024.