- Reference
- Phykos 23:11 (1984)
- Conservation Code
- Not threatened
- Naturalised Status
- Native to Western Australia
- Name Status
- Current
Scientific Description
Habit and structure. Thallus filamentous, to 0.3–0.5 mm tall, with prostrate and erect axes. Prostrate axes with cells to 150 µm diam., attached by rhizoids. Apical cells small, 12–18 µm diam., 1–2 times as long as wide, dividing somewhat obliquely and producing a relatively dense apical cluster. Lateral branches developing strongly and overtopping the apical cluster, pseudodichotomously branched, slightly curved, with elongate cells 30–45 µm diam.; distal cells 17–32 µm diam. Mature axes becoming tri- to polychotomously branched due to the production of adventitious lateral branches.
Reproduction. Vegetative reproduction by bulbous propagules borne on short stalk cells arising from the distal end of bearing cells, in axils. Stalk cells generally trapezoidal to cupulate. Propagules single-celled, ellipsoidal to obovoid, 150–180 × 90–100 µm, starch-filled. Tetrasporangia borne on the distal ends of lateral branch cells, sessile, 1 or 2 per cell, subspherical, 60–100 × 50–80 µm (including wall), tetrahedrally or obliquely cruciately divided (some specimens with an obvious 2-celled stage).
Distribution. Occurs in warmer waters of the Indo-Pacific.
Habitat. Epilithic or epiphytic (usually on Sargassum spp.) in the intertidal or subtidal.
[After J.M. Huisman in Algae of Australia: Marine Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 2. Red Algae: 597–598 (2018)]