''Polysiphonia'', known as red hair algae, is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of filamentous
red algae
Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), make up one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest Phylum, phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 recognized species within over 900 Genus, genera amidst ongoing taxon ...
with about 19
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
on the coasts of 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 ...
and about 200 species worldwide, including
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
and
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 ...
.
Its members are known by a number of common names.
[Recorded common names are olann dhearg, craonach, cúnach triosgar, cluaisíní, mileara, millreacha, salata tou yialou (σαλάτα του γιαλού) and lobster horns.][ It is in the order Ceramiales and family Rhodomelaceae.]
Description
''Polysiphonia'' is a red alga, polysiphonousrhizoid
Rhizoids are protuberances that extend from the lower epidermal cells of bryophytes and algae. They are similar in structure and function to the root hairs of vascular land plants. Similar structures are formed by some fungi. Rhizoids may be un ...
s or hapterafrond
A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...
s.bromine
Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...
.dichotomous
A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be
* jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and
* mutually exclusive: nothi ...
or spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects.
Two-dimensional
A two-dimension ...
, and the width and length of thalli.
Distribution and ecology
Species have been recorded from 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 ...
, 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 ...
, North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, islands in the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, southwest Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, 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 ...
, Greenland and Antarctica.mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s or limpet
Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, ...
s and artificial substrata etc. from mid- littoral to at least 27 m depth. Many species are abundant in rock pools.
Reproduction and life cycle
The life-cycle of the red algae has three stages ( triphasic). In ''Polysiphonia'' it consists of a sequence of a gametangial, carpospoangial and tetrasporangial phases.[Smith, G.M. 1955. ''Cryptogamic Botany Algae and Fungi. Volume 1.'' Second Edition. p.337]haploid
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell (biology), cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for Autosome, autosomal and Pseudoautosomal region, pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the num ...
) plants (the male gametophyte
A gametophyte () is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has one set of chromosomes. The gametophyte is the se ...
s) produce sperm
Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive Cell (biology), cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm ...
atia and the female plants (the female gametophytes) produce the carpogonium (the haploid carpogonium) which remains attached to the parent female plant. After fertilization the diploid
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...
nucleus migrates and fuses with an auxiliary cell. A complex series of fusions and developments follow as the diploid zygote
A zygote (; , ) is a eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes.
The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individ ...
develops to become the carposporophyte, this is a separate phase of the life-cycle and is entirely parasitic on the female, it is surrounded by the haploid pericarp of the parent female plant. The diploid carpospores produced in the carposporangium when released are non-motile, they settle and grow to form filamentous diploid plants similar to the gametophyte. This diploid plant is the tetrasporophyte which when adult produced spores in fours after meiosis. These spores settle and grow to become the male and female plants thus completing the cycle.
Species
The species currently recognized are:
*'' P. abscissa''
*'' P. abscissoides''
*'' P. acanthina''
*'' P. acuminata''
*'' P. adamsiae''
*'' P. adriatica''
*'' P. amphibolis''
*'' P. anisogona''
*'' P. anomala''
*'' P. arachnoidea''
*'' P. arctica''
*'' P. aterrima''
*'' P. atlantica''
*'' P. atra''
*'' P. atricapilla''
*'' P. australiensis''
*'' P. azorica''
*'' P. bajacali''
*'' P. banyulensis''
*'' P. barbatula''
*'' P. baxteri''
*'' P. beaudettei''
*'' P. beguinotii''
*'' P. bicornis''
*'' P. biformis''
*'' P. bifurcata''
*'' P. binneyi''
*'' P. blandii''
*'' P. boergesenii''
*'' P. boldii''
*'' P. breviarticulata''
*'' P. brevisegmenta''
*'' P. brodiei''
*'' P. caespitosa''
*'' P. callithamnioides''
*'' P. cancellata''
*'' P. capucina''
*'' P. carettia''
*'' P. caspica''
*'' P. castagnei''
*'' P. castelliana''
*'' P. ceramiaeformis''
*'' P. cladorhiza''
*'' P. coacta''
*'' P. codicola''
*'' P. collinsii''
*'' P. confusa''
*'' P. constricta''
*'' P. corymbosa''
*'' P. crassa''
*'' P. crassicollis''
*'' P. crassiuscula''
*'' P. curta''
*'' P. dasyoeformis''
*'' P. daveyae''
*'' P. decipiens''
*'' P. decussata''
*'' P. delicatula''
*'' P. denudata''
*'' P. derbesii''
*'' P. deusta''
*'' P. devoniensis''
*'' P. dichotoma''
*'' P. dotyi''
*'' P. dumosa''
*'' P. echigoensis''
*'' P. echinata''
*'' P. elongata'' - lobster horns
*'' P. elongella''
*'' P. erythraea''
*'' P. exilis''
*'' P. fernandeziana''
*'' P. fibrata''
*'' P. fibrillosa''
*'' P. figariana''
*'' P. flabelliformis''
*'' P. flabellulata''
*'' P. flexella''
*'' P. flexicaulis''
*'' P. flocculosa''
*'' P. foeniculacea''
*'' P. foetidissima''
*'' P. forfex''
*'' P. fracta''
*'' P. fragilis''
*'' P. fucoides''
*'' P. funebris''
*'' P. furcellata''
*'' P. fuscorubens''
*'' P. gonatophora''
*'' P. gracilis''
*'' P. guadalupensis''
*'' P. guernisacii''
*'' P. hancockii''
*'' P. hapalacantha''
*'' P. haplodasyae''
*'' P. hassleri''
*'' P. havanensis''
*'' P. havaniensis''
*'' P. hemisphaerica''
*'' P. hendryi''
*'' P. herpa''
*'' P. hirta''
*'' P. hochstetteriana''
*'' P. hockstetteriana''
*'' P. homoia''
*'' P. howei''
*'' P. implexa''
*'' P. incompta''
*'' P. indigena''
*'' P. infestans''
*'' P. isogona''
*'' P. japonica''
*'' P. johnstonii''
*'' P. kampsaxii''
*'' P. kappannae''
*'' P. kieliana''
*'' P. kotschyana''
*'' P. kowiensis''
*'' P. lanosa''
*'' P. letestui''
*'' P. macounii''
*'' P. marchantae''
*'' P. masonii''
*'' P. mollis''
*'' P. morrowii''
*'' P. mottei''
*'' P. muelleriana''
*'' P. namibiensis''
*'' P. nathanielii''
*'' P. neglecta''
*'' P. nhatrangense''
*'' P. nhatrangensis''
*'' P. nigra''
*'' P. nigrescens''
*'' P. nizamuddinii''
*'' P. opaca''
*'' P. ornata''
*'' P. orthocarpa''
*'' P. pacifica''
*'' P. paniculata''
*'' P. paradoxa''
*'' P. parthasarathyi''
*'' P. parvula''
*'' P. pentamera''
*'' P. perforans''
*'' P. pernacola''
*'' P. perriniae''
*'' P. platycarpa''
*'' P. plectocarpa''
*'' P. plectrocarpa''
*'' P. polychroma''
*'' P. polyspora''
*'' P. porrecta''
*'' P. propagulifera''
*'' P. pseudovillum''
*'' P. pulvinata''
*'' P. quadrata''
*'' P. ramentacea''
*'' P. requienii''
*'' P. rhododactyla''
*'' P. rhunensis''
*'' P. rigidula''
*'' P. rudis''
*'' P. saccorhiza''
*'' P. sadoensis''
*'' P. sanguinea''
*'' P. scopulorum''
*'' P. senticulosa''
*'' P. sertularioides''
*'' P. setigera''
*'' P. shepherdii''
*'' P. simplex''
*'' P. simulans''
*'' P. sinicola''
*'' P. sonorensis''
*'' P. sparsa''
*'' P. sphaerocarpa''
*'' P. spinosa''
*'' P. stricta''
*'' P. strictissima''
*'' P. stuposa''
*'' P. subtilissima''
*'' P. subulata''
*'' P. subulifera''
*'' P. succulenta''
*'' P. tapinocarpa''
*'' P. teges''
*'' P. tenerrima''
*'' P. tenuistriata''
*'' P. tepida''
*'' P. tokidae''
*'' P. tongatensis''
*'' P. tripinnata''
*'' P. triton''
*'' P. tsudana''
*'' P. tuberosa''
*'' P. tuticorinensis''
*'' P. unguiformis''
*'' P. upolensis''
*'' P. urbana''
*'' P. urbanoides''
*'' P. urceolata''
*'' P. utricularis''
*'' P. virgata''
*'' P. yonakuniensis''
Notes
References
External links
Images
of ''Polysiphonia'' at Algaebase
AlgaeBase is a global species database of information on all groups of algae, both seaweed, marine and freshwater algae, freshwater, as well as sea-grass.
History
AlgaeBase began in March 1996, founded by Michael D. Guiry, Michael Guiry. Text ...
*
{{Authority control
Rhodomelaceae
Red algae genera