''Colpomenia peregrina'', sometimes referred to by its vernacular names oyster thief and bladder weed, is a species of

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

. This species is native to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, but has been introduced to other areas. It was first noticed in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 1906 on

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

beds. It has now been recorded throughout the eastern north

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Printz, H. 1952. On some rare or recently immigrated marine algae on the Norwegian coast. ''Nytt Mag. Bot.'' 1: 135 - 151 and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

.Minchin, A. 1991. Further distributiona; records of the adventive marine brown alga ''Colpomenia peregrina'' (Phaeophyta) in Ireland. ''Ir. Nat. J.'' 23:380 - 381 It was first recorded in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

in 1908 and in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1934.Morton, O. 2003. The marine macroalgae of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, Ireland. ''Bull. Ir. biogeog. Soc.'' 27: 3 - 164Lynn, M.J. 1935. Rare algae from Strangford Lough.- part II. ''Ir. Nat. J.'' 5: 275 - 283

Description

''Colpomenia peregrina'' (syn. '' Colpomenia sinuosa'' (Mertens ex Roth) Derbès et Solier var. ''peregrina'' Sauvageau) is a small brown alga, bladder-like, hollow and membranous, up to 9 cm across. The surface is thin and smooth but often collapsed or torn when older. Olive brown in colour and attached by rhizoidal filaments to rock at the base.Fletcher, R.L. 1987. ''Seaweeds of the British Isles.'' Volume 3 Fucophyceae (Phaeophyceae) Part 1. British Museum (Natural History), London. There are two species in Europe: ''C. sinuosa'' (Mert.) Derb. & Sol. and ''C. peregrina'' (Sauvageau) Hamel. ''C. sinuosa'' was present at least as far back as the 1840s in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and ''C.peregrina'' was introduced and first noticed by oyster fishermen in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

in 1906. It was first noticed in Britain in 1907 in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

.Jones, W.E. 1974. Changes in the seaweed flora of the British Isles. ''In'' Hawksworth, D.L. (Ed) ''The changing flora and flora of Britain.'' pp.97 - 113. Systematics Association Special Volume 6. Academic Press, London and New York The two species are superficially similar and in older texts, such as Knight and Parke (1931),Knight, M. and Parke, M.W. 1931. Manx Algae. An algal survey of the south end of the Isle of Man. ''Proc. Trans. L'pool biol. Soc.'' 45(appendix II): 1 - 155. ''C.peregrina'' is referred to as ''C.sinuosa''. Similar species: '' Leathesia difformis'' is a similar species: it is yellow brown in colour, fleshy and mucilaginous in texture. It is globose and smooth when young, becoming hollow and convoluted with age and growing to 5 cm in diameter.
However, ''L. difformis'' is easily distinguished from ''C. peregrina'', because ''L. difformis'' readily squashes when pressed between finger and thumb.Hiscock, S. 1979. A field key to the British brown seaweeds (Phaeophyta). ''Field Studies.'' 3: 1 - 44

Habitat

This species is found in

littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

rock pools, in localities that are not exposed, and also in the sublittoral to a depth of 3m.

Distribution

;North America (west coast) This species occurs from Alaska to

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. ;Europe ''C. peregrina'' was first recorded in Europe in 1908.Minchin, D. 2001. ''Biodiversity and marine invaders.'' in Marine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. (Appendix) Proceedings of a Conference 26–27 April 2001, Ulster Museum. publication no.8 It was also recorded from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

.Abbott, I.A. and Hollenberg, G.J. 1976. ''Marine Algae of California.'' Stanford University Press, California. ;British Isles This seaweed is not native to the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, but is found generally in this area. In Hardy and Guiry (2006) it is shown to be generally recorded around Ireland, south west

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Wales and the west coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Records from the east of Scotland are few, and it not shown as present on the east or south east coast of England.Hardy F.G. and Guiry, M.D. 2006. ''A Check-list and Atlas of the Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.'' British Phycological Society. It is noted as a recent addition to the flora (as ''C. sinuosa'' in Knight and Parke (1931). ;Ireland ''C. peregrina'' has been recorded in

since 1934. ''Colpomenia peregrina'' has been recorded in Ireland from the following counties: Down,Morton, O. 1994.''Marine

Algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

.'' Ulster Museum, Belfast. Donegal, Kerry,

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, Clare and

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. Apparently this alga was first recorded in Ireland by M.J.Lynn from

Strangford Lough Strangford Lough () is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linke ...

in March 1934, and from Lough

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

near Ballycarry and Magheramorne in 1935. It was also recorded from Portballintrae, on the north coast, and in the south at Lough Ine. In 1936 it was found at Rush (

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

) and at Killough (County Down). There are further records from:

Portstewart Portstewart () is a small seaside town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,854 people in the 2021 United Kingdom census. It is a seaside resort, neighbouring both Coleraine in County Londonderry and Portrush in Cou ...

(

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

), cast ashore at Hood's Ferry, Islandmagee (opposite Larne), (

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

).Blackler, H. 1937. The alga ''Colpomenia sinuosa'' Derb. et Sol. in Ireland. ''Ir. Nat. J.'': 6:196 - 197 It is now abundant. Specimens of this species are stored in the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures ...

Herbarium (BEL) from:

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

;

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

under the catalogue museum numbers: F11254; F3136; F7675; F6154; F1682; F1693; F7491; F7674; F4254; F4254 and F1832. ;New Zealand ''C. peregrina'' is found in intertidal to subtidal zones of the coasts of the North and South Islands.

References

External links

AlgaeBase Site for more pictures and details

Department of the Environment: Zebra Mussel
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2716328 Ectocarpales Algae of Australia

Description

Habitat

Distribution

References

Further reading

External links