- Reference
- Syn.Alg.Scand. xxii (1817)
- Conservation Code
- Not threatened
- Naturalised Status
- Native to Western Australia
- Name Status
- Current
Scientific Description
Habit and structure. Thallus grass-green or olive-green, spreading laterally to 30 cm, with smooth stolons 2–4 mm diam. Assimilators to 10 cm tall and 3–5 mm wide, fleshy, slightly to markedly flattened, with straight or sinuous margins, unbranched or sparingly branched, with ramuli arising from the smooth margins. Ramuli variable in occurrence, often absent, opposite to irregular, clavate, 5–10 mm long, to 3 mm wide at their rounded apices.
Distribution. Only known from the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. In W.A. it occurs as far south as Ningaloo Reef.
Habitat. Usually grows on sandy substrata in the shallow subtidal. One of the more common taxa of Caulerpa, particularly along the Pilbara coast.
[After Belton, Huisman & Gurgel, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 90 (2015)]
Distribution
- IBRA Regions
- Carnarvon, Dampierland, Indian Tropical Islands, Pilbara.
- IBRA Subregions
- Cape Range, Pindanland, Roebourne.
- IMCRA Regions
- Abrolhos Islands, Bonaparte Gulf, Canning, Kimberley, Ningaloo, Pilbara (nearshore), Pilbara (offshore).
- Local Government Areas (LGAs)
- Ashburton, Broome, Cocos Islands, Derby-West Kimberley, Exmouth, Greater Geraldton, Karratha, Port Hedland, Wyndham-East Kimberley.