''Corallina officinalis'' is a

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

red seaweed which grows in the lower and mid-littoral zones on

rocky shore A rocky shore is an intertidal area of seacoasts where solid rock predominates. Rocky shores are biologically rich environments, and are a useful "natural laboratory" for studying intertidal ecology and other biological processes. Due to th ...

s. It is primarily found growing around the rims of

tide pools A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only ...

, but can be found in shallow crevices anywhere on the rocky shore that are regularly refreshed with sea water. It predominantly grows on the lower shore, especially where fucoid algae are absent, but is also found further up shore on exposed coasts. It forms

calcium carbonate Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a common substance found in Rock (geology), rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite, most notably in chalk and limestone, eggshells, gastropod shells, shellfish skel ...

deposits within its cells which serve to strengthen 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 ...

. These white deposits cause the seaweed to appear pink in colour, with white patches where the calcium carbonate is particularly concentrated, such as at the growing tips. The calcium carbonate makes it unpalatable to most rocky shore grazers.

Description

The

of ''C. officinalis'' is firmly attached generally to rock and grows in tufts to a length of 120mm. It has articulated pinnate branching with successive opposite lateral branches. Each frond consists of cylindrical calcified stipes which show segments each a little longer than broad, rising from a crustose base like a string of beads becoming larger and more wedge-shaped higher up the stipe.Irvine, L.M. & Chamberlain, Y.M. 1994. ''Seaweeds of the British Isles.'' Vol. 1 Rhodophyta. Part 2B. Corallinales, Hildenbrandiales. HMSO. In colour the fronds are pinkish, it may bleach to white when exposed to sunlight.Bunker, F.StP.D., Maggs, C.A., Brodie, J.A. and Bunker, A.R. 2017 ''Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.'' Second Edition. Wild Nature Press, Plymouth, UK.

Reproduction

The sexes exist on separate plants and appear as small chalky nodules.

Ecology

''Corallina'' grows on rocks in rock pools and occasionally on shells or other algae, at mid-littoral to 33m deep, it provides a habitat for many small animals which feed on the microorganisms dwelling in its dense tufts.

Distribution

''C. officinalis'' is common, to be found on solid rock around

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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 ...

and

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. Also recorded from the

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 ...

coast, from northern

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 ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and intermittently from

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. ''Corallina'' is also found in USA, Argentina and elsewhere including some parts of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In New Zealand this species is found on the intertidal zone of the coasts of the Kermadec Islands, the North, South, Chatham and Stewart Islands as well as the Antipodes and Auckland Islands.

References

External links

* * http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3039 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1784208 Corallinaceae Protists described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Red algae species