''Chaetomorpha melagonium'' is a species of

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

of the family '' Cladophoraceae''. There is confusion as to whether there are two forms of this species - one attached and one unattached.Burrows, E.M. 1991. ''Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 2 Chlorophyta.'' Natural History Museum, London

Description

The attached form is unbranched growing solitary or in a small group to 60 cm long. The filaments are attached at the base and are stiff and straight. In colour they are dark green with a glaucus sheen. Remarkably rigid and wiry. The cells are so large they can be seen with naked eye.Hardy, F.G. and Guiry, M.D.2003. ''A Check-list and Atlas of the Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland''. The British Phycological Society

Habitat

Rock pools of the low littoral. Never abundant,Newton, J. 1931. ''A Handbook of the British Seaweeds''. British Museum, London but widespread.

Distribution

Widespread around the British Isles, along the Atlantic shores of Europe, Murman Sea, Greenland, Canadian Arctic.

References

Cladophoraceae Plants described in 1845 Taxa named by Friedrich Traugott Kützing Chlorophyta species {{Ulvophyceae-stub