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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.

Halimeda macrophysa Askenasy

Reference
Forschungsr.Gazelle, Bot.Alg. 4:14 Pl. 4, Figs 1-4 (1888)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus erect but tending to sprawl, pale green (occasionally with a hint of blue), epilithic, typically growing between coral and in reef cavities, dichotomously to trichotomously branched; axes imbricate. Segments moderately calcified, chalky and dull, variously orientated, mostly reniform with entire margins, flattened but often curled (particularly the distal margins); surfaces appearing pitted due to large utricles. Utricles in 2 or 3 layers; peripheral utricles clavate, 150–200 μm diam., in surface pits formed by the calcification, laterally free after decalcification. Secondary utricles much smaller, obdeltoid; tertiary utricles elongate, cylindrical. Medullary siphons 35–100 µm diam., broadest subtending dichotomies, fusing in groups of 2 or 3 at nodes .

Distribution. Widespread in the Indo-West Pacific.

Habitat. Epilithic in the subtidal.

[After Huisman & Verbruggen, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 134 (2015)]