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Project Noah Nature School
Asparagopsis armata
both diploid gametophyte (red tuft) and haploid tetrasporophyte (branched red seaweed in my hand) were found. "The sexual (gametophyte) plant is delicate, up to 30 cm tall, with barbed branches and is rosy pink, yellowish-pink or whitish-pink in colour. The thallus has prominent major axes, bare in lower parts but densely tufted above. The plant is attached to other algae by barbed rhizoids. The asexual (tetrasporophyte) plant is a rose-pink in colour, and is formed of irregularly-branched, polysiphonous axes that are usually aggregated into spherical or hemispherical masses 1-3 cm in diameter."
found in tidal zone of Cabo Raso, Cascais "The sexual (gametophyte) plant is found in the shallow sublittoral or in deep littoral pools attached to other algae by its barbed axes. The asexual (tetrasporophyte) plant is typically found sublittorally and is epiphytic or sometimes free-living."
This species is invasive! The assexual stage of the seaweed is the one that usually sticks to surfing wetsuits.
Spotted on Mar 20, 2015
Submitted on Mar 31, 2015
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