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Caulerpa sertularioides (S.G.Gmel.) M.Howe

Reference
Bull.Torrey Bot.Club 32:576 (1905)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus pale to dark green, spreading laterally to 35 cm, with smooth stolons 0.5–1.5 mm diam., attached by pillars bearing dense rhizoidal filaments. Assimilators simple or 1 or 2 times branched, to 8 cm tall and 16 mm wide, with a terete rachis c. 1 mm diam. Ramuli distichous (rarely tristichous or crowded), closely set, terete, 4–6 mm long, curved upwards and giving the plant a feathery appearance. Assimilators mostly with ramuli from just above the base, but occasionally with naked stipes to several (rarely up to 4) cm long.

Distribution. Widely distributed in tropical seas. In W.A. south to Coral Bay.

Habitat. Epilithic in the intertidal and shallow subtidal, occasionally in sandy areas. One of the more common taxa of Caulerpa, particularly within the Ningaloo Reef lagoon.

[After Belton, Huisman & Gurgel, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 95 (2015)]

John Huisman and Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Carnarvon, Dampierland, Northern Kimberley, Pilbara.
IBRA Subregions
Cape Range, Mitchell, Pindanland, Roebourne.
IMCRA Regions
Canning, Kimberley, Ningaloo, Pilbara (nearshore), Pilbara (offshore), Shark Bay.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Ashburton, Broome, Carnarvon, Cocos Islands, Derby-West Kimberley, Exmouth, Karratha, Port Hedland, Shark Bay, Wyndham-East Kimberley.