Division

RHODOPHYTA
(Red Algae)

Presentation by:

Group 5
Genus: Gracilaria
– Gracilaria is used as a food in Japanese, Hawaiian, and Filipino cuisine. In the
Philippines, it is called gulaman and used to make gelatin, also called gulaman.
– Habitat: On rock flat 30 cm below low water; on stones in Caulerpa
racemosa community growing on calcareous sand, ca. 30 cm below low water; on
sponge, ca. 15 cm below low water (Lipkin & Silva 2002). - (31 May 2010)
– The species within the genus Gracilaria  can take on many different forms.  Many
have terete branches while others have compressed or flattened branches.  There
are nine species that can be seen in Hawai’i with only three being common.
– Exhibits dichotomous branching
Gracilaria sp.
Genus: Laurencia
– Erect or decumbent, depending on species, with terete or compressed axis
– May have branchlets that are short, with blunt, indented tips protruding from the
main branch 
– Thalli range from having simple, radial symmetry to complex, bilateral symmetry or
dorsiventral organization
– Apices are straight, strongly curved dorsally, or spirally inrolled 
– Because of the high variation in color, branching pattern and texture, it is not simple to
identify Laurencia species in the field
– Genus Laurencia is found globally on shores in temperate to tropical area and are seen
at depths up to 65 m deep
Laurencia sp.

100X
 Laurencia sp.

HPO

length: 3.3 cm
Laurencia sp.

HPO (400x)
 Laurencia patentiramea

length: 3.2 cm

HPO
Laurencia sp.

HPO (400x)
Laurencia sp.

HPO (400x)
Laurencia sp.

HPO (400x)
Laurencia sp.

LPO (100x)
1.5 x
Laurencia sp. l.s
400x
 Genus: Pneophyllum
– Crustose coralline algae (one of the few coralline algae that can overgrow live coral)
– Thalli may grow to over 1 m in diameter, and usually do not overgrow each other
where they meet, but rather fuse and form a ‘seam’.
– The alga is strongly adherent, growing over live coral much more frequently than
over bare skeletons or coral rock. Semi-quantitative counts showed at least three
quarters of all P. conicum encountered in reefs to grow over living corals. The margin
of the alga is adherent to slightly free, entire to slightly lobed or undulate and lacks
orbital ridges, while the surface has a granular texture (Keats et al., 1997).
– Widespread in Indo-Pacific region
Pneophyllum conicum

HPO (400x)
Pneophyllum conicum

HPO (400x)
Genus: Polysiphon
– Cartilaginous, cylindrical, densely tufted, dark reddish-purple fronds, to 75 mm
long, attached by creeping rhizoids with branches penetrating the host fronds
of Ascophyllum nodosum. Repeatedly pseudodichotomously branched, apices
pointed, widely forked. Large central siphon with 12-24 pericentral siphons,
ecorticate, articulations shorter than broad.
Habitat: Hemiparasitic on Ascophyllum nodosum, more rarely on Fucus
vesiculosus, never on rock (appearances can be deceptive as it can grow on old
stalks of both species) in the sheltered midtidal, generally distributed, usually
abundant where Ascophyllumoccurs.
Vertebrata lanosa

LPO (100x)
Vertebrata lanosa

LPO (100x)
 References
– Guiry, M. D. & Guiry, G. M. (2016). "Laurencia J.V.Lamouroux, 1813, nom.
cons.". AlgaeBase. Retrieved 20, February 2016
– http://species-identification.org/species.php?
species_group=caribbean_diving_guide&id=479
– https://limuwatch.wordpress.com/red-algae/
– www.algaebase.org/search/species/details/?species_id=21766
Genus: Acanthophora
– Acanthophora has an erect, loosely branched thalli. Branches terete
throughout, slightly attenuated towards the acute tips. Spinous projections, a
characteristic of this genus, are densely borne on the spirally arranged
determinate branchlets.
– Acanthophora is highly variable in color: it can be shades of red, purple, yellow,
orange, or brown. Thalli are often very dark in colour in intertidal, high motion
areas, and are usually lighter colour in shallow areas with low water motion and
reflective sandy or silty bottoms
Genus: Jania
– form wide, dichotomously branched structures, growing in tangled, small
clumps. Branches composed of rigid, stony, cylindrical segments with flexible
joints. Segments light red to pink in color; joints white.