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Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. Due to the rapidly approaching holiday season and associated agency and facility soft closures, along with the substantial work involved in data mapping, cleaning, and verification, the migration to the new collection management software is not expected to occur before 1 March 2026, when a further update will be provided. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 9:45 am on Friday, 12 December 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Monday, 2 March 2026 +08:00.

Gloiotrichus fractalis Huisman & Kraft

Reference
Eur.J.Phycol. 74-76, figs 1-17 (1994)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus to 17 cm high, pink to deep red, mucilaginous, with several percurrent axes and lateral branches from all sides, often appearing alternate-distichous or unilateral. Axes terete, lightly calcified; main axes 1–2 mm in diameter; lateral branches to 1 mm in diameter. Medulla with 5–15 filaments as well as adventitious filaments from basal cells of cortical fascicles; cells elongate, 90–120 × 12–15 µm, to 180 µm in diameter in older portions. Cortical fascicles subdichotomously branched; distal 2–5 cells unbranched; distal cells to 15 µm in diameter, with a conspicuous central pyrenoid, often bearing 1 or 2 glandular cells.

Reproduction. Spermatangial branches on subterminal cortical cells, 4 or 5 cells long; spermatangia 3–4 µm in diameter. Carpogonial branches with lower cells often secondarily branched. Carposporophyte to 250 µm in diameter.

Distribution. Occurs subtidally at depths of 6–20 m in the Houtman Abrolhos, W. Aust.

Habitat. G. fractalisgrows on coral and coral rubble.

John Huisman & Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Geraldton Sandplains.
IBRA Subregions
Geraldton Hills.
IMCRA Regions
Abrolhos Islands.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Greater Geraldton.