Pelvetia canaliculata
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| Pelvetia canaliculata | ||||||||||||||
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| Pelvetia canaliculata (L.) Decne. & Thur. |
Pelvetia canaliculata (L.) Dcne. et Thur. (channelled wrack) is a very common brown seaweed (Phaeophyta) found on the rocks of the upper shores of Europe.
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[edit] Description
Pelvetia grows to a maximum length of 15 cm in dense tufts, the fronds being deeply channelled on one side: the channels and a mucus layer help prevent the seaweed drying when the tide is out. It is irregularly dichotomously branched with terminal, receptacles [1] and is dark brown in colour. Each branch is of uniform width and without a midrib. The receptacles are forked at the tips.
It is distinguished from other large brown algae by the channels along the frond. It has no mid-rib, no air-vesicules and forms the uppermost zone of algae on the shore growing at or above high water mark. [2] The reproductive organs form swollen, irregularly shaped receptacles at the end of the branches. The conceptacles are hermaphrodite and borne within the receptacles.
[edit] Ecology and distribution
P. canaliculata is the only large algae growing on rocks forming a zone along the upper shore at the upper littoral zone, on the shores of the British Isles. It tolerates a wide range of exposure conditions. [3] It needs periods of exposure to the air, and sometimes grows so high up a beach that coarse grass and other longshore angiosperms grow among it. If it is submerged for more than six hours out of 12 it begins to decay. [4]
[edit] Distribution
Pelvetia canaliculata is common on the Atlantic shores of Europe from Iceland to Spain, including Norway, Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and Portugal. [5]
[edit] References
- ^ L. Newton (1931). A Handbook of the British Seaweeds. British Museum, London.
- ^ C. I. Dickinson (1963). British Seaweeds. The Kew Series.
- ^ J. R. Lewis (1964). The Ecology of the Rocky Shores. The English Universities Press Ltd. London.
- ^ D. Thomas (2002). Seaweeds. Life Series. Natural History Museum, London. ISBN 0-565-09175-1.
- ^ M. D. Guiry & Wendy Guiry (2006-10-25). Pelvetia canaliculata (Linnaeus) Decaisne & Thuret. AlgaeBase.
[edit] External links
- N. White (2006). Channelled wrack, Pelvetia canaliculata. Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.
- David W. Connor, James H. Allen, Neil Golding, Kerry L. Howell, Louise M. Lieberknecht, Kate O. Northern & Johnny B. Reker (2004). LR.LLR.F.Pel: Pelvetia canaliculata on sheltered littoral fringe rock. The Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland Version 04.05.
- British Isles Seaweeds Images
