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Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system and census were set to read-only mode on 1 October 2025. Taxonomic updates published since this time are not being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or Western Australia’s taxonomic names census (Nomos). Conservation listings displayed on Florabase may also be out of date. Please refer to DBCA’s Threatened species and communities webpage for the most recent Threatened and Priority Flora List, noting that recent taxonomic updates are similarly not included. Our database migration is moving to a staging phase. We thank you for your patience as we ensure the integrity of our biodiversity data, develop new workflows, and train staff to use the new systems. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Friday, 1 January 2027 +08:00.

Caulerpa flexilis J.V.Lamour.

Reference
Ann.Mus.Natl.Hist.Nat. 283, pl. 13, fig.3 (1813)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Stolon robust, (2–)3–4(–6) mm in diameter, densely covered with small, 2–4 times furcate, ramuli each 150–500 µm long and 80–120 µm thick near their base, tapering to spinous (often bifid) apices, epilithic. Erect primary fronds dark green, with simple or occasionally branched axes, usually 5–40 cm high and 2–6 cm across, largely to strictly alternately distichously branched with prominent, lax, second-order laterals usually 1–6 cm long and 2–4 mm across, bearing crowded ramuli on all sides. Ramuli covering all parts of the primary fronds and the second-order laterals on all sides, bifurcate near their bases, 1–3 mm long and (150–)200–300(–350) µm in diameter, terete, apically directed and slightly upwardly curved, tapering near their apices to 1–3 small, single or bifid, apical spines.

Distribution. From Geraldton, W. Aust., to Collaroy, N.S.W. and around Tas. New Zealand (North Island).

Habitat. Common in rock pools and the upper sublittoral on rough-water and moderately sheltered coasts; recorded to 40 m deep.

[After Womersley, Mar. Benthic Fl. Southern Australia I: 266 (1984)]

John Huisman & Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Swan Coastal Plain.
IBRA Subregions
Geraldton Hills, Perth, Recherche.
IMCRA Regions
Abrolhos Islands, Central West Coast, Leeuwin-Naturaliste, WA South Coast.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Augusta Margaret River, Cockburn, Dandaragan, Esperance, Greater Geraldton, Irwin, Rockingham, Wanneroo.