Catenella caespitosa is a small red marine alga.
| Catenella caespitosa | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Clade: | Archaeplastida |
| Division: | Rhodophyta |
| Class: | Florideophyceae |
| Order: | Gigartinales |
| Family: | Caulacanthaceae |
| Genus: | Catenella |
| Species: | C. caespitosa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Catenella caespitosa (Withering) L.M.Irvine
| |
Description
editThis small alga grows to 20 mm high from a discoid holdfast and dark brown in colour. Very irregularly branched, creeping moss-like and terete. Branches easily seen to be constricted at intervals. Medulla, the inner cells, formed of thick-walled filaments and with a cortex of rows of elongated cells radially arranged compact cells.[1][2]
Habitat, ecology
editCatanella caespitosa occurs in shaded sites on rock and around the holdfasts of the fucoids of the upper littoral.[3]
Distribution
editRecorded around the British Isles, from Norway to the Mediterranean and further from the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[1]
Reproduction
editThe alga is monoecious, that is both male and female parts to be found on the same plant.[1] The spermatangia, the male gametes, and carposporophytes, the diploid phase, grouped together in sori. Tetrasporangia occur scattered towards the tips of the filaments of separate plants.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c Dixon, P.S. and Irvine, L.M. 1977 Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 1 Rhodophyta Part 1 Introduction, Nemaliales, Gigartinales.
- ^ Campbell, A.C.1984. The Country Life Guide to the Seashore and Shallow Seas of Britain and Europe ISBN 0 600 34396 0
- ^ Lewis, J.R. 1964. The Ecology of Rocky Shores. p.161 The English Universities Press Ltd
- ^ Newton, L. 1931. A Handbook of British Seaweeds. British Museum
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