Schmitzia hiscockiana
| Schmitzia hiscockiana | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| (unranked): | Archaeplastida |
| Division: | Rhodophyta |
| Class: | Florideophyceae |
| Order: | Gigartinales |
| Family: | Calosiphoniaceae |
| Genus: | Schmitzia |
| Species: | S. hiscockiana
|
| Binomial name | |
| Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs & Guiry 1985
| |
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.
Distribution[edit]
This small red marine alga is known from most coasts of Ireland, Wales, England, and Scandinavia.[1]
Habitat[edit]
This species is known only from the sublittoral zone to 15m depth; it grows on cobbles and pebbles.
The gametophyte plants exist between April and August, and are in the crustose phase from September to December.
Species description[edit]
The gametophyte phase is a soft and gelatinous plant, no more than 8 cm long, 6 cm wide and a few millimeters thick. It is flattened and divided in a leaf-like manner with marginal proliferations. Rose pink in colour, the blades are composed of a filamentous axis bearing whorls of branchlets, four or five per axial cell. These whorls of branchlets form a cortex.
Life history[edit]
The plants are monoecious, bearing spermatia and carpogonia. After fertilization and development of connecting filaments and fusion with intercalary vegetative cells, a carposporphyte develops. The tetrasporophyte phase is crustose and unknown in the wild.[2] It is bright red and grows to 6 mm in diameter and composed of a single basal layer of cells which produce erect filaments some of which produce tetraspores. These tetraspores develop and grow to give rise to the gametophyte generations.[3]
Similar species[edit]
Other species of Schmitzia are distinct. S. neapolitana from the North Atlantic and Mediterranean is always terete. S. hiscockiana is easily recognizable: it more closely resembles S. evanescens (New Zealand) and S. japonica (Japan and Australia).
References[edit]
- ^ "Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs & Guiry 1985 :: Algaebase".
- ^ Hardy, F.G. and Guiry, M.D. 2006. A Check-list and Atlas of the Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland. British Phycological Society, London. ISBN 3-906166-35-X
- ^ Maggs, C.A. and Guiry, M.D. 1985. Life history and reproduction of Schmitzia hiscockiana sp.nov. (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales) from the British Isles. Phycologia 24: 297 – 310
External links[edit]
- Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs et Guiry HabitasOnline, A National Museums Northern Ireland Website
- Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs & Guiry Description and pictures from Michael Guiry's Seaweed Site.