Lessoniaceae | |
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Eckloniopsis radicosa | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
Clade: | SAR |
Clade: | Stramenopiles |
Phylum: | Gyrista |
Subphylum: | Ochrophytina |
Class: | Phaeophyceae |
Order: | Laminariales |
Family: | Lessoniaceae Setchell & Gardner, 1925 |
Genera [1] | |
Lessoniaceae are a family of kelp. Species of this family have a transition zone with the intercalary meristem subdivided so that there are a number of secondary stipes in addition to the primary stipe. [2]
Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant but a stramenopile, a group containing many protists.
Brown algae are a large group of multicellular algae comprising the class Phaeophyceae. They include many seaweeds located in colder waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and polar regions. Many brown algae, such as members of the order Fucales, commonly grow along rocky seashores. 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 that 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. Some members of the class, such as kelps, are used by humans as food.
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Although algal kelp forest combined with coral reefs only cover 0.1% of Earth's total surface, they account for 0.9% of global primary productivity. Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans. In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador.
Macrocystis is a monospecific genus of kelp with all species now synonymous with Macrocystis pyrifera. It is commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp. This genus contains the largest of all the Phaeophyceae or brown algae. Macrocystis has pneumatocysts at the base of its blades. Sporophytes are perennial and the individual may live for up to three years; stipes/fronds within a whole individual undergo senescence, where each frond may persist for approximately 100 days. The genus is found widely in subtropical, temperate, and sub-Antarctic oceans of the Southern Hemisphere and in the northeast Pacific from Baja California to Sitka, Alaska. Macrocystis is often a major component of temperate kelp forests.
Arame, sea oak is a species of kelp, of the brown algae, best known for its use in Japanese cuisine.
Lessonia is a genus of large kelp native to the southern Pacific Ocean. It is restricted to the southern hemisphere and is distributed along the coasts of South America, New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Antarctic islands. The genus was first described by Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent in 1825.
Ecklonia radiata, commonly known as spiny kelp or leather kelp, is a species of kelp found in the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands, Madagascar, Mauritania, Senegal, South Africa, Oman, southern Australia, Lord Howe Island, and New Zealand.
Eisenia arborea, or the southern sea palm, is a dominant species of kelp that is found on the western Pacific coast of North America, from Vancouver Island, Canada south to Mexico's Isla Magdalena and Baja California, as well as in Japan. They are commonly found from the midtidal areas stretching to the subtidal areas. It is an edible seaweed, a source of nutrients for grazing marine invertebrates and a source of alginic acid, a food thickener. Some of the algas have a hollow stipe above its holdfast with two branches terminating in multiple blades. Eisenia arborea is studied in order to predict environmental stress in oceans intertidal zones. Hollow stipes where present when the Eisenia arborea did not receive essential nutrients for its thalli development. Eisenia arborea with hollow stripes are believed to be evolved algae in order to increase their survival in harsh living conditions. They play a huge role in determining environmental stress.
Egregia menziesii is a species of kelp known commonly as feather boa kelp. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Egregia. It is native to the coastline of western North America from Alaska to Baja California, where it is a common kelp of the intertidal zone.
Ecklonia maxima, or sea bamboo, is a species of kelp native to the southern oceans. It is typically found along the southern Atlantic coast of Africa, from the very south of South Africa to northern Namibia. In these areas the species dominates the shallow, temperate water, reaching a depth of up to 8 metres (26 ft) in the offshore kelp forests.
Ecklonia cava, is an edible marine brown alga species found in the ocean off Japan and Korea.
Ecklonia is a genus of kelp belonging to the family Lessoniaceae.
The marine snail Norrisia norrisii is a medium-sized gastropod mollusk within the family Tegulidae. It has several common names, including Norris's top snail, Norris's topsnail, norrissnail, smooth brown turban snail, or kelp snail. It was first described by G.B. Sowerby I under the name Trochiscus norrisii. It is the only species in the genus Norrisia.
Eisenia is a brown alga genus in the family Lessoniaceae. The genus is named for California Academy of Sciences curator, Gustav Eisen.
Phlorotannins are a type of tannins found in brown algae such as kelps and rockweeds or sargassacean species, and in a lower amount also in some red algae. Contrary to hydrolysable or condensed tannins, these compounds are oligomers of phloroglucinol (polyphloroglucinols). As they are called tannins, they have the ability to precipitate proteins. It has been noticed that some phlorotannins have the ability to oxidize and form covalent bonds with some proteins. In contrast, under similar experimental conditions three types of terrestrial tannins apparently did not form covalent complexes with proteins.
Eckol is a phlorotannin isolated from brown algae in the family Lessoniaceae such as species in the genus Ecklonia such as E. cava or E. kurome or in the genus Eisenia such as Eisenia bicyclis.
Pterygophora californica is a large species of kelp, commonly known as stalked kelp. It is the only species in its genus Pterygophora. It grows in shallow water on the Pacific coast of North America where it forms part of a biodiverse community in a "kelp forest". It is sometimes also referred to as woody-stemmed kelp, walking kelp, or winged kelp.
Lessonia trabeculata is a species of kelp, a brown alga in the genus Lessonia. It grows subtidally off the coasts of Peru and northern and central Chile, with the closely related Lessonia nigrescens tending to form a separate zone intertidally. Lessonia trabeculata kelp have gained a great economic importance for alginate production, and its harvest has greatly intensified along the Chilean coast during past two decades
Lessonia corrugata is a species of kelp, a brown algae in the genus Lessonia, commonly known as strapweed, common crapweed, or Tasmanian kombu. It is a subtidal species endemic to Tasmania and southern Victoria, Australia, and is the least studied of the only three Laminarian kelps in the region. The species was first described by Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas in 1931, and is most closely related to the New Zealand species Lessonia variegata.