Phymatolithon

Phymatolithon is a genus of non geniculate coralline red algae, known from the UK,[1] and Australia.[2] It is encrusting, flat, and unbranched; it has tetrasporangia and bisporangia borne in multiporate conceptacles.[1] Some of its cells bear small holes in the middle; this distinctive thallus texture is termed a "Leptophytum-type" thallus surface, and has been posited as a taxonomically informative character.[1] It periodically sloughs off its epithallus, reducing its overgrowth by algae by as much as 50% compared to bare rock.[3]

Phymatolithon
Scientific classification
(unranked): Archaeplastida
Division: Rhodophyta
Class: Florideophyceae
Order: Corallinales
Family: Hapalidiaceae
Subfamily: Melobesioideae
Genus: Phymatolithon
Foslie, 1898
Species
At least 11, including
  • Phymatolithon bornetii
  • Phymatolithon calcareum
  • Phymatolithon elatum Chamberlain, 1990
  • Phymatolithon laeve
  • Phymatolithon lenormandii (Areschoug) W.H.Adey
Synonyms
  • Leptophytum Adey, 1966

References
  1. Chamberlain, Y. M. (1990). "The genus Leptophytum (Rhodophyta, Corallinaceae) in the British Isles with descriptions of Leptophytum bornetii, L. elatum sp. nov. and L. laeve". European Journal of Phycology. 25 (2): 179–199. doi:10.1080/00071619000650171.
  2. Wilks, K.; Woelkerling, W. (1994). "An account of southern Australian species of Phymatolithon (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta) with comments on Leptophytum". Australian Systematic Botany. 7 (3): 183. doi:10.1071/SB9940183.
  3. Johnson, C.; Mann, K. (1986). "The crustose coralline alga, Phymatolithon Foslie, inhibits the overgrowth of seaweeds without relying on herbivores" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 96 (2): 127. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(86)90238-8.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.