Fucales

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Fucales
Ascophylum nodosum.jpg
Ascophyllum nodosum
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Chromista
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Phaeophyceae
Subclass: Fucophycidae
Order: Fucales
Kylin
Families

Bifurcariopsidaceae
Durvillaeaceae
Fucaceae
Himanthaliaceae
Hormosiraceae
Notheiaceae
Sargassaceae
Seirococcaceae
Xiphophoraceae

Contents

The Fucales (fucoids) are an order in the brown algae (class Phaeophyceae). The list of families in the Fucales, as well as additional taxonomic information on algae, is publicly accessible at Algaebase. [1]

The class Phaeophyceae is included within the division Heterokontophyta. [2] This name comes from the Greek word phaios meaning "brown" and phyton meaning plant. [3] They include some of the largest organisms in the sea, but some are small and fine in structure.

Classification

The Fucales include some of the more common littoral seaweeds and the members of the order have the typical seaweed construction: a holdfast, stipe, and lamina. The lamina is often much branched and may include gas-filled bladders. Growth is by division of the apical cells.

They are oogamous – fusion between the small male gamete and the large female gamete.

Related Research Articles

<i>Fucus vesiculosus</i> Species of Phaeophyceae

Fucus vesiculosus, known by the common names bladder wrack, black tang, rockweed, sea grapes, bladder fucus, sea oak, cut weed, dyers fucus, red fucus and rock wrack, is a seaweed found on the coasts of the North Sea, the western Baltic Sea and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was the original source of iodine, discovered in 1811, and was used extensively to treat goitre, a swelling of the thyroid gland related to iodine deficiency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown algae</span> Large group of multicellular algae, comprising the class Phaeophyceae

Brown algae, comprising the class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multicellular algae, including many seaweeds located in colder waters within the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and polar regions. They are dominant on rocky shores throughout cooler areas of the world. Most brown algae live in marine environments, where they play an important role both as food and as a potential habitat. For instance, Macrocystis, a kelp of the order Laminariales, may reach 60 m (200 ft) in length and forms prominent underwater kelp forests. Kelp forests like these contain a high level of biodiversity. Another example is Sargassum, which creates unique floating mats of seaweed in the tropical waters of the Sargasso Sea that serve as the habitats for many species. Many brown algae, such as members of the order Fucales, commonly grow along rocky seashores. Some members of the class, such as kelps, are used by humans as food.

<i>Palmaria palmata</i> Species of edible alga

Palmaria palmata, also called dulse, dillisk or dilsk, red dulse, sea lettuce flakes, or creathnach, is a red alga (Rhodophyta) previously referred to as Rhodymenia palmata. It grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is a well-known snack food. In Iceland, where it is known as söl[ˈsœːl̥], it has been an important source of dietary fiber throughout the centuries.

<i>Ascophyllum</i> Species of seaweed

Ascophyllum nodosum is a large, common cold water seaweed or brown alga (Phaeophyceae) in the family Fucaceae, being the only species in the genus Ascophyllum. It is a seaweed that grows only in the northern Atlantic Ocean, also known in localities as feamainn bhuí, rockweed, Norwegian kelp, knotted kelp, knotted wrack or egg wrack. It is common on the north-western coast of Europe including east Greenland and the north-eastern coast of North America, its range further south of these latitudes being limited by warmer ocean waters.

<i>Alaria esculenta</i> Edible seaweed

Alaria esculenta is an edible seaweed, also known as dabberlocks or badderlocks, or winged kelp. It is a traditional food along the coasts of the far north Atlantic Ocean. It may be eaten fresh or cooked in Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Ireland. It is the only one of twelve species of Alaria to occur in both Ireland and in Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laminariaceae</span> Family of brown algal seaweeds, many genera of which are popularly called "kelp"

Laminariaceae is a family of brown algal seaweeds, many genera of which are popularly called "kelp". The table indicates the genera within this family. The family includes the largest known seaweeds: Nereocystis and Macrocystis.

<i>Fucus serratus</i> Species of Phaeophyceae

Fucus serratus is a seaweed of the north Atlantic Ocean, known as toothed wrack or serrated wrack.

<i>Pelvetia</i> Genus of seaweeds

Pelvetia canaliculata, the channelled wrack, is a very common brown alga (Phaeophyceae) found on the rocks of the upper shores of Europe. It is the only species remaining in the monotypic genus Pelvetia. In 1999, the other members of this genus were reclassified as Silvetia due to differences of oogonium structure and of nucleic acid sequences of the rDNA.

Schmitzia hiscockiana is a small, rare, red seaweed or marine alga of the phylum Rhodophyta or red algae. It was discovered and named in 1985.

The history of phycology is the history of the scientific study of algae. Human interest in plants as food goes back into the origins of the species, and knowledge of algae can be traced back more than two thousand years. However, only in the last three hundred years has that knowledge evolved into a rapidly developing science.

Ascoseira is a monotypic genus of seaweed in the brown algae. The single and type species, Ascoseira mirabilis Skottsberg, is a large parenchymatous macroalgae, and is endemic to the Antarctic Ocean. Ascoseira is assigned to its own order. The alga grows in subtidal waters at depths of from 3 to 15 meters.

<i>Alaria</i> (alga) Genus of algae

Alaria is a genus of brown alga (Phaeophyceae) comprising approximately 17 species. Members of the genus are dried and eaten as a food in Western Europe, China, Korea, Japan, and South America. Distribution of the genus is a marker for climate change, as it relates to oceanic temperatures.

<i>Turbinaria</i> (alga) Genus of seaweeds

Turbinaria is a genus of brown algae (Phaeophyceae) found primarily in tropical marine waters. It generally grows on rocky substrates. In tropical Turbinaria species that are often preferentially consumed by herbivorous fishes and echinoids, there is a relatively low level of phenolics and tannins.

Myriotrichia is a genus of brown algae.

Nemoderma is the only genus in the family Nemodermataceae and order Nemodermatales of the brown algae. The genus contains only a single species, Nemoderma tingitanum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choristocarpaceae</span> Family of algae

Choristocarpaceae is a family in the order Discosporangiales of the brown algae. The family contains a single genus, Choristocarpus. The species is mostly located in the cold waters of the Northern hemisphere. A type of seaweed, Choristocarpaceae attaches itself to rocky substrate in places that are near continental shelves and the shore. Due to the species having morphological similarity, they were classified in closer relation with D. mesarthrocarpum. But due to many other differing characteristics Choristocarpaceae were put into their own family with a single genus and a single species of brown algae.

<i>Fucus distichus</i> Species of alga

Fucus distichus or rockweed is a species of brown alga in the family Fucaceae to be found in the intertidal zones of rocky seashores in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in rock pools.

<i>Himanthalia</i> Genus of seaweeds

Himanthalia is a genus of brown algae. It is the only genus in the family Himanthaliaceae in the order Fucales. It includes two species: Himanthalia durvillei and Himanthalia elongata.

<i>Phyllospora comosa</i> Species of brown seaweed

Phyllospora comosa, known as crayweed, is a species of brown algae in the Seirococcaceae family that is a type of temperate seaweed forest important as habitat for many marine species and also for producing oxygen and capturing atmospheric carbon. It is found in the oceans around Australia and New Zealand. Crayweed grows up to 2.5 m in length and forms dense, shallow forests. It is abundant in cooler waters along the south-eastern coastline of Australia, around Tasmania and in South Australia and occurs to a depth of around five metres (16 ft) on the east coast and farther south to about three metres (9.8 ft). On some Tasmanian coasts it can occur depths of at 18 metres (59 ft). It used to occur around Sydney but has disappeared from metropolitan areas under pressure from human activities during the 1970s and 1980s.

<i>Laminaria pallida</i> Large species of brown seaweed from the west coast of southern Africa

Laminaria pallida, the split-fan kelp, is a species of large brown seaweed of the class Phaeophyceae found from Danger Point on the south coast of South Africa to Port Nolloth, Tristan da Cunha and Gough islands in the Atlantic and Île Saint-Paul in the Indian Ocean.

References

  1. Guiry, M.D. and Guiry, G.M. 2006. AlgaeBase version 4.2. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 7 December 2006
  2. Hardy, G. and Guiry, M.D. 2006. A Check-list and Atlas of the Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland. 2006. The British Phycologcal Society. ISBN   3-906166-35-X
  3. Huisman, J.M. 2000. Marine Plants of Australia. University of Western Australia Press, Australia. ISBN   1-876268-33-6

Further reading