Dumontia contorta

Dumontia contorta
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Clade:	Archaeplastida
Division:	Rhodophyta
Class:	Florideophyceae
Order:	Gigartinales
Family:	Dumontiaceae
Genus:	Dumontia
Species:	D. contorta
Binomial name
	Dumontia contorta; (S.G. Gmelin) Ruprecht

Last updated January 29, 2026

Dumontia contorta is a relatively small epiphytic algae of the sea-shore.

Description

The thallus grows from a discoid holdfast to a length of about 23 centimetres (9.1 in). The fronds branch irregularly and sparingly.^[2] The branches are hollow, soft and twisted, dark reddish brown in colour which bleach towards the tips, they clearly taper at their junction.^[1]

Reproduction

The plants are dioecious (sexes separate) with microscopic spermatangia, carposporangia, and tetrasporangia developing in the surface layer, cruciate.^[1]^[3]

Habitat

Generally epilithic in rock pools of the littoral zone.^[1]

Distribution

Common around the British Isles. Europe from Russia to Portugal and Canada to United States. In the NW Pacific and Alaska.^[1]^[4]

References

1 2 3 4 5 Irvine, L.M. 1983. Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 1 Rhodophyta. Part 2A. British Museum (Natural History) ISBN 0 565 00871 4
↑ Jones, W.E. 1964. A key to the genera of the British seaweeds. Field Studies1 no.4:1 - 32
↑ Bunker, StP, P, Brodie, J.A., Maggs, C.A. and Bunker, A.R. 2017 Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland. Second Edition, Wild Nature Press, Plymouth, UK. ISBN 978-0-9955673-3-7
↑ Morton, O. 2003. The marine macroalgae of County Donegal, Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society No. 27 pp.3 - 164

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[Irvine_83-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Irvine, L.M. 1983. Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 1 Rhodophyta. Part 2A. British Museum (Natural History) ISBN 0 565 00871 4

[2] Jones, W.E. 1964. A key to the genera of the British seaweeds. Field Studies1 no.4:1 - 32

[3] Bunker, StP, P, Brodie, J.A., Maggs, C.A. and Bunker, A.R. 2017 Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland. Second Edition, Wild Nature Press, Plymouth, UK. ISBN 978-0-9955673-3-7

[4] Morton, O. 2003. The marine macroalgae of County Donegal, Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society No. 27 pp.3 - 164

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