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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. The project team is now conducting testing of the migrated data, and a further update will be provided by the end of the financial year (1 July). Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

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Melanothamnus delicatulus (Hollenb.) Huisman

Reference
Algae of Australia: Marine Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 2. Red Algae 539 (2018)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus with prominent prostrate axes attached by pit-connected rhizoids arising from lower pericentral cells, and simple or sparsely branched upright axes to 3 mm tall. Upright axes 25–60 μm diam. Pericentral cells 4, with trichoblasts/scar cells on every segment, in a spiral pattern with a 1/4 divergence.

Reproduction. Tetrasporangia in spiral series of up to 15 sporangia, more mature proximally, subspherical, 35–50 μm diam. when mature, markedly distending the bearing branch, tetrahedrally divided. Other reproductive structures not observed.

Distribution. Occurs in tropical waters of the Indian and western and central Pacific Oceans. In Western Australia known from the Dampier Archipelago and Robroy Reef, Kimberley.

Habitat. epilithic in the subtidal.

[After J.M. Huisman in Algae of Australia: Marine Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 2. Red Algae: 539–542 (2018)]