Blue branching seaweed • Gloiocladia laciniata
Blue-branching seaweed growing amongst kelp and red corralline algae. Photo by Bea Proudfoot.
Identification
This fan-shaped red alga is dark red with a beautiful bluish-purple or yellowish-green iridescence. Multiple fan-shaped blades arise from a small disc-shaped holdfast. The blades, growing to 12 cm tall and 15 cm across, are firm, slippery, and dichotomously branched. Blades that are gametophytes bear small black dots (cystocarps).
Habitat & Range
Blue branching seaweed grows from very low in the intertidal to a depth of 10 m. It is often found growing on tube worms. Its range extends from central Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.
Similar Species
The gametophyte of margined blue branchings seaweed (Gloiocladia fryeana) bears cystocarps on blade margins.
Intriguing Info
Light reflecting off gland cells found in the surface layer of cells results in this species' distinctive iridescent colours.
This fan-shaped red alga is dark red with a beautiful bluish-purple or yellowish-green iridescence. Multiple fan-shaped blades arise from a small disc-shaped holdfast. The blades, growing to 12 cm tall and 15 cm across, are firm, slippery, and dichotomously branched. Blades that are gametophytes bear small black dots (cystocarps).
Habitat & Range
Blue branching seaweed grows from very low in the intertidal to a depth of 10 m. It is often found growing on tube worms. Its range extends from central Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.
Similar Species
The gametophyte of margined blue branchings seaweed (Gloiocladia fryeana) bears cystocarps on blade margins.
Intriguing Info
Light reflecting off gland cells found in the surface layer of cells results in this species' distinctive iridescent colours.
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Images courtesy of Sandra Lindstrom. Collection numbers PTM 409 (left) and SCL 15286 in the UBC Herbarium Algae Database; search the specimen in the database for more information, or search the species for more occurrences.
References
Lamb, A., and Hanby, B. (2005). Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest [electronic version]. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing.
O'Clair, R. and Lindstrom, S. Gloiocladia laciniata (J. Agardh) Sanchez & Rodriguez-Prieto. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed 20/04/2015.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell and Brian Starzomski (2015).
Lamb, A., and Hanby, B. (2005). Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest [electronic version]. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing.
O'Clair, R. and Lindstrom, S. Gloiocladia laciniata (J. Agardh) Sanchez & Rodriguez-Prieto. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Ed.). E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Accessed 20/04/2015.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell and Brian Starzomski (2015).
