Fucus spiralis
LinnaeusKey Characteristics
- Leathery olive to brown blades with midrib, often eroded at base
- Tips rounded; when mature swollen, rounded to almost spherical, with a distinct ridge along the sides
- Blades often spirally twisted
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Database links
- Blue markers: specimen records
- Yellow marker: type locality, if present
- Red markers: endpoints of range from literature
View map from the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria
Notes: Native on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In California, in Tomales Bay. Also reported from Alaska, British Columbia, Canada, and Washington.
Status: This species is very closely related to F. distichus and F. vesiculosus, distinguished chiefly by microsatellite markers (Kucera & Saunders 2008). It is common on both western and eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean. It is more common in Alaska, Washington and British Columbia, Canada than in California.
Habitat: Upper intertidal, above F. distichus
Life History: Diplontic, with gametic meiosis; monoecious
Illustration from DeCew's Guide to the Seaweeds of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California
Not in Marine Algae of California. Midrib conspicuous on blades, often basally eroded. Blades can be spirally twisted. Receptacles rounded, often nearly spherical, with sterile margin of tissue forming a ridge along the sides. Caecostomata (surface cavity without hairs; not reproductive) absent, cryptostomata (surface cavity containing hairs; not reproductive) often conspicuous. Antheridia longer (39 +/- 3.8 μm than those of F. distichus (48 +/- 5.1 μm) (Kucera & Saunders 2008). Growing above F. distichus.
Excerpt from Abbott, I. A., & Hollenberg, G. J. (1976). Marine algae of California. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xii [xiii] + 827 pp., 701 figs.
NON-NATIVE
Vertical Distribution: Upper intertidal
Frequency: Rare in California, observed only in Tomales Bay.
Substrate: Rock
Type locality: "Habitat in Oceano"
