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Dictyopteris woodwardia (Turner) C.Agardh

Reference
Syn.Alg.Scand. 21 (1817)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus erect, pale to dark brown, to 30 cm tall, dichotomously to alternately branched. Axes flattened, 2–10 mm wide, with a prominent midrib. Marginal serrations generally conspicuous, but in some specimens poorly developed. Lower axes often denuded. Hair tufts in 2 rows on either side of the midrib. Sporangia scattered, solitary or in small groups, in narrow elongate bands, parallel to and close to the midrib. Hair bundles not surrounded by sporangia. Tetrasporangia dark brown, ovoid to spherical, 110–160 µm diam. in surface view, embedded in the thallus.

Distribution. Known from Ningaloo Reef, near Exmouth, W.A., across northern Australia to Magnetic Island, Qld. Also in the Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Habitat. Generally epilithic in the shallow subtidal.

[After Huisman & Phillips, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 200 (2015)]

John Huisman and Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Carnarvon, Pilbara.
IBRA Subregions
Cape Range, Roebourne.
IMCRA Regions
Canning, Kimberley, Ningaloo, North West Shelf, Pilbara (nearshore), Pilbara (offshore).
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Ashburton, Broome, Derby-West Kimberley, Exmouth, Karratha, Wyndham-East Kimberley.