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Halimeda macroloba Decne.

Reference
Arch.Mus.Hist.Nat. 2:118-119 (1841)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus erect, grass-green to dark green, drying pale olive; exposed portion to 13 cm tall, growing from a bulbous sand-binding holdfast or a smaller holdfast if associated with rock. Branching dichotomous to trichotomous, occasionally polychotomous near the base. Basal segment compressed to cylindrical, bearing several segments. Other segments subcuneate, discoid or subreniform, the upper margin usually entire but often lobed, to 18 mm long and 23 mm wide. Cortex of 2–4 layers of utricles; peripheral utricles 25–50 μm diam., often rounded in surface view after decalcification. Nodal medullary filaments uniting to form a horizontal plate.

Distribution. Common in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans; in W.A. occurs south to Shark Bay.

Habitat. Usually growing in unconsolidated substrata in the intertidal and shallow subtidal.

[After Huisman & Verbruggen, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 132 (2015)]

John Huisman and Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

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