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Caulerpa fergusonii Murray

Reference
Trans.Linn.Soc.London,Bot. 3:212, Pl. LIII, Figs 1-2 (1891)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus olive-green to dark green, spreading laterally to 18 cm, with smooth stolons 2–3 mm diam., attached to rock by short pillars bearing dense rhizoids. Assimilators mostly sessile. Rachis glossy, to 5 cm tall, simple or rarely branched; segments hexagonal, bearing distichous opposite or alternate ramuli. Ramuli subspherical, obovate to pyriform, slightly compressed, 4–7 mm long and 3–5 mm wide [L:B (1–) 1.5–1.8 (–2.3)], often overlapping.

Distribution. This species has been reported from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan and Fiji. In W.A. it is known from the Kimberley as far south as Canal Rocks in the south-west.

Habitat. Epilithic in the intertidal and subtidal.

[After Belton, Huisman & Gurgel, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 90 (2015)]

John Huisman and Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Geraldton Sandplains, Northern Kimberley.
IBRA Subregions
Geraldton Hills, Mitchell.
IMCRA Regions
Abrolhos Islands, Canning, Central West Coast, Leeuwin-Naturaliste, Pilbara (nearshore), Pilbara (offshore), WA South Coast.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Ashburton, Broome, Cockburn, Dandaragan, Esperance, Greater Geraldton, Irwin, Karratha, Wanneroo, Wyndham-East Kimberley.