Entwisleia Explained

Entwisleia is a monotypic genus in the red algae family, Entwisleiaceae. There is just one species (the type species) in this genus,Entwisleia bella, from south-eastern Tasmania and represents both a new family and a new order (Entwisleiales) in the Nemaliophycidae.

It is a marine species found in the Derwent River estuary. It grows at depths between 5.0 and 9.0 m and is found scattered on mudstone reef flats dusted or shallowly covered by sand. The site at which it was found is subject to episodic high-rainfall events throughout the year and heavy swells in winter. It is a feathery^[1] dioecious seaweed, very like the freshwater red algae, Batrachospermum, but from DNA sequencing, appears to be quite unrelated.^[2] Scott et al.'s (2013) study shows it as a sister clade of the Colaconematales.

The genus was named to honour Tim Entwisle, was circumscribed by Fiona Jean Scott and Gerald Thompson Kraft in Eur. J. Phycol. Vol.48 (Issue 4) on page 402 in 2013.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sea! Alga discovery a feather in expert's cap. Smith. Bridie. 2013-09-01. The Age. en. 2019-10-29.
2. Web site: Talking Plants: New Seaweed may be Hobart's Wollemi Pine. Entwisle, T.. September 2013. Talking Plants. 2019-10-29.
3. Book: Burkhardt, Lotte . Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen . Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names . Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin . 2022 . 978-3-946292-41-8 . pdf . German . Berlin . 10.3372/epolist2022 . January 27, 2022.