''Bornetella sphaerica'', commonly known as the spherical turtle shell, is a species of marine alga in the Dasycladaceae family. It is found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, the type-location being Sorong,

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Austral ...

, Indonesia.''Bornetella sphaerica''
at AlgaeBase. Retrieved on 18 November 2021.

Description

The

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

of ''Bornetella sphaerica'' is attached to the substrate by a disc-shaped holdfast. The slender cylindrical stipe is continuous with the central vein that extends halfway along the thallus. The vein bears whorls of fine lateral filaments and terminates in a whorl of threadlike branches with neatly-arranged inflated hexagonal ends. The whole thallus is rolled into a spherical mass with a diameter of about .

Distribution and habitat

''Bornetella sphaerica'' is found in the Indo-Pacific region, its range extending from East Africa and Madagascar to Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii and northern Australia. It grows on reefs, on rocks and dead coral heads, at depths from the low

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

down to about .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q69713402 Dasycladaceae Algae of Australia Algae of Hawaii Protists described in 1892 Chlorophyta species