Phymatolithon Explained

Phymatolithon is a genus of non geniculate coralline red algae, known from the UK,[1] and Australia.[2] It is encrusting, flat, and unbranched; it has tetrasporangia and bisporangia borne in multiporate conceptacles.[1] Some of its cells bear small holes in the middle; this distinctive thallus texture is termed a "Leptophytum-type" thallus surface, and has been posited as a taxonomically informative character.[1] It periodically sloughs off its epithallus, reducing its overgrowth by algae by as much as 50% compared to bare rock.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Chamberlain . Y. M. . The genus Leptophytum (Rhodophyta, Corallinaceae) in the British Isles with descriptions of Leptophytum bornetii, L. elatum sp. nov. and L. laeve. European Journal of Phycology . 25 . 2 . 179–199. 1990 . 10.1080/00071619000650171.
  2. Wilks . K. . Woelkerling . W. . An account of southern Australian species of Phymatolithon (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta) with comments on Leptophytum. Australian Systematic Botany . 7 . 3 . 183 . 1994 . 10.1071/SB9940183.
  3. Johnson . C. . Mann . K. . The crustose coralline alga, Phymatolithon Foslie, inhibits the overgrowth of seaweeds without relying on herbivores . Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology . 96 . 2 . 127 . 1986 . 10.1016/0022-0981(86)90238-8 .

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