Fucus gardneri

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Fucus gardneri
Fucus gardneri rockweed.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Fucales
Family: Fucaceae
Genus: Fucus
Species:
F. gardneri
Binomial name
Fucus gardneri
P.C.Silva, 1953
Closeup of the mature tips of Fucus gardneri Bladderwrack (Fucus gardneri).jpg
Closeup of the mature tips of Fucus gardneri

Fucus gardneri is a species of seaweed, a brown alga living on the littoral shore of the Pacific coasts of North America. It has the common names of rockweed and bladderwrack.

Contents

Description

Fucus gardneri is olive brown in colour and similar to Fucus spiralis. It grows to 40–50 centimetres (16–20 in) long and branches somewhat irregularly dichotomous and is attached, generally to rock, by a discoid holdfast. It has airsacks at the top.

Life history

The tips of mature individuals swell up and provide flotation for the plant as well as reproductive chambers for developing sperm and eggs. During low tide, the swollen tips dry up squeezing out sperm and eggs which unite into a zygote during the next flood tide and settle onto a substratum.

Ecology

Rockweed can form thick bands in the middle intertidal on rocky substrates. [1] The other common species of Fucus: Fucus spiralis , Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus along with Ascophyllum nodosum form the main and dominant seaweeds on rocky shores. These three species, along with two others Pelvetia canaliculata and Ascophyllum nodosum form the zones along the shore.

Uses and history

Native Americans historically harvested the dried swollen tips of Fucus gardneri – sometimes referred to as "Indian pop corn". When the airbubbles are popped, it secretes a thick lotion, very moisturizing.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

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

Fucus vesiculosus, known by the common names bladderwrack, 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>Fucus</i> Genus of brown algae

Fucus is a genus of brown algae found in the intertidal zones of rocky seashores almost throughout the world.

<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.

Rockweed may refer to:

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

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

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

Fucus spiralis is a species of seaweed, a brown alga, living on the littoral shore of the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America. It has the common names of spiral wrack and flat wrack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrack (seaweed)</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Wrack is part of the common names of several species of seaweed in the family Fucaceae. It may also refer more generally to any seaweeds or seagrasses that wash up on beaches and may accumulate in the wrack zone.

Elsie May Burrows was an English botanist who made significant contributions to British postwar phycology. Her primary area of research was macroalgal ecology, focusing particularly on Fucus, a genus of brown algae, and Chlorophyta, a division of the green algae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballantine scale</span> Marine biology measurement scale

The Ballantine scale is a biologically defined scale for measuring the degree of exposure level of wave action on a rocky shore. Devised in 1961 by W. J. Ballantine, then at the zoology department of Queen Mary College, London, the scale is based on the observation that where shoreline species are concerned "Different species growing on rocky shores require different degrees of protection from certain aspects of the physical environment, of which wave action is often the most important." The species present in the littoral zone therefore indicate the degree of the shore's exposure.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phlorotannin</span> Class of chemical compounds

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.

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<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>Alaria marginata</i> Species of seaweed

Alaria marginata, the winged kelp, is a brown alga species in the genus Alaria. It can grow up to 13 feet. Fronds are long and narrow with raised midrib and wavy edges. Each frond has two rows of several smooth, oblong, 5 inch spore-bearing blades at the base in winter.

<i>Fucus ceranoides</i> Species of seaweed

Fucus ceranoides is a species of brown algae found in the littoral zone of the sea shore.

<i>Polysiphonia lanosa</i> Species of alga

Polysiphonia lanosa is a common species of the red algae (Rhodophyta) often to be found growing on Ascophyllum nodosum.

Susan Brawley is an American marine ecologist at the University of Maine known for her research on algae, especially algal reproduction. She was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012.

A mycophycobiosis (composed of myco-, from the Ancient Greek: μύκης, phyco-, from Ancient Greek: φῦκος,, and -biose, from ancient Greek: βιόω is a symbiotic organism made up of a multicellular algae and an ascomycete fungus housed inside the algae. The algae and fungus involved in this association are called mycophycobionts.

References

  1. "Rockweed on Rocky Shoreline Photo". Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-04-25.

Further reading