Cladophora graminea
CollinsKey Characteristics
- Tufts of dark green, stiff, branched filaments to 10+ cm long
- Sometimes forming tight mounds in exposed intertidal habitats
- Cells very long relative to width
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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: La Jolla (several collections) and Baja California, 10 miles west of Punta Malarrimo, Bahia Viscaino, MICH-684889. Other warmer water sites need confirmation, as do records from Oregon, many of which are misidentifications.
Status: This species should be re-examined with the rest of the species on this coast; there are no records in GenBank.
Habitat: Exposed intertidal and subtidal, often on vertical surfaces or under ledges.
Life History: Not investigated, but probably alternation of isomorphic phases, with quadriflagellate zoospores and biflagellate isogametes.
Cladophora Kützing 1843
Thalli sparsely to profusely branched, erect, the upper branches usually conspicuously branching pectinately or unilaterally. Chloroplasts conspicuously reticulate or disklike, containing many pyrenoids. Lower branches dichotomously or many times branched. Lateral branches short, not branching further, or the lower laterals longer than the upper newly formed branches, occasionally branching again. Erect branches not entangled by hooks, but lower portions sometimes matted and difficult to separate because of adventitious rhizoids produced by lower cells and fusing with adjacent cells. Basal portion usually of short creeping rhizoids growing together and making firm mat. Asexual reproduction by quadriflagellate zoospores formed in terminal and subterminal cells of branches; pore of escape of zoospores thought to have some taxonomic utility. Sexual reproduction by biflagellate isogametes.
The species of Cladophora are highly variable with respect to morphology and ecology, as is clearly reflected in the nomenclatural confusion surrounding the taxa. Van den Hoek (1963) performed a herculean task in collecting, culturing, and clarifying the status of the European taxa. It is clear from a critical assessment of his studies that for the most part the application of names of European species to Pacific Coast Cladophora is in error, either because of the existence of earlier homonyms ( e.g. C. sericea) or because as presently understood the West Coast specimens do not fit the newly drawn detailed descriptions (e.g. C. columbiana, previously known as C. trichotoma). Furthermore, the lack of understanding of Western Pacific (Asian) species of Cladophora has led to the exclusion of those taxa from the North American West Coast. Though the following classification is imperfect, it does represent a determined effort to apply correct names to the West Coast species. The lack of large numbers of collections with adequate locality data and the lack of culture studies hamper any effort to be definitive. Nonetheless, we believe that this classification will at least acknowledge the contributions of van den Hoek, as well as those of Sakai (1964) from Japan, and that further studies, so badly needed, will begin with a firmer grounding than if the attempt had not been made.
Cladophora graminea Coll.
Collins 1909b: 19; Smith 1944: 59 (incl. synonymy).
Thalli in hemispherical tufts 4-10 cm tall, grayish-green to dark green, sometimes appearing striped; branches stiff, mostly long and uninterrupted by branching for some distance; apical cells 100-150 µm diam.; basal cells 300-500 µm diam., 20-30 times as long; branching primarily dichotomous or trichotomous in lower portions, alternate above; branchlets with 1-3 cells, narrowing from base to apex.
Frequent in small caves or shaded overhangs, saxicolous and usually growing intermingled with sponges, midtidal to low intertidal, Santa Cruz to San Pedro, Calif. Type locality: Monterey, Calif.
No other species of Cladophora on this coast has cells so long in relation to diameter; nor does any other favor shaded overhangs.
Excerpt from Abbott, I. A., & Hollenberg, G. J. (1976). Marine algae of California. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xii [xiii] + 827 pp., 701 figs.
Notes: More recent collections have shown that this species is commonly found subtidally in southern California, especially in the Channel Islands.
NATIVE
Vertical Distribution: Low intertidal to subtidal
Frequency: Frequent
Substrate: Rock
Type locality: Monterey to San Pedro, Los Angeles Co., California