Halimeda velasquezii W.R.Taylor

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus to 5.5 cm in height, attached by a single holdfast; dichotomously or trichotomously branched, more prolifically in lower portions, sometimes unbranched for 4–6 segments in distal portions; segments flattened, reniform to oval, occasionally trilobed, with a slightly raised midrib, 4–9.5 mm broad and 2.5–5 mm long, often broader towards the branch apices. Medullary filaments 35–75 µm broad, fusing in groups of 4–5 at nodes, for a distance of approximately 75 µm. Cortex of lateral siphons, these dichotomously branched and mostly unconstricted apart from the peripheral utricles, 12–35 µm in diameter (narrowest peripherally). Outermost branches basally constricted and forming utricles, 10–20 µm in diameter in surface view.

Distribution. In W. Aust., from the North-West Cape region north to (at least) the Kimberley coast. Indo-Pacific.

Habitat. Epilithic in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal, often on vertical walls in intertidal rock pools.