- Reference
- Sci.Pap.Inst.Algol.Res.Fac.Sci.Hokkaido Imp.Univ. 3:40 (1944)
- Conservation Code
- Not threatened
- Naturalised Status
- Native to Western Australia
- Name Status
- Current
Scientific Description
Habit and structure. Thallus with prostrate and erect axes, light pink, to 2 cm tall, ecorticate, occasionally slightly mucilaginous, attached by multicellular branched rhizoids from basal cells of whorl branches on prostrate axes. Erect axes bearing indeterminate branches alternately or unilaterally every 2–7 cells (more sparse lower down), these arising directly from axial cells in addition to whorl branches. Cells of erect axes 15–35 μm diam. distally [L:B 1.5–2], becoming broader and proportionally shorter proximally, to 150 μm diam. [L:B c. 1.4]. Whorl branches short, congested near the apex and curving upwards, otherwise mostly outwardly directed and not covering the axial filament, divaricately branched, the first division dichotomous, subsequent divisions dichotomous to trichotomous; terminal cells ellipsoidal or elongate, occasionally slightly attenuate.
Reproduction. Tetrasporangia arising 1–3 per whorl, singly on basal cells of whorl branches, spherical to subspherical, 35–50 μm diam., tetrahedrally divided. Other reproductive structures not observed.
Distribution. Widespread in warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Habitat. Epiphytic on larger algae in the shallow subtidal.
[After J.M. Huisman in Algae of Australia: Marine Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 2. Red Algae: 366 (2018)]