''Polysiphonia elongata'' is a small red marine algae in the

Rhodophyta Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), make up one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 recognized species within over 900 genera amidst ongoing taxonomic revisions. ...

Description

''Polysiphonia elongata'' is a small

red alga 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 ...

which, unlike some other species of ''

Polysiphonia ''Polysiphonia'', known as red hair algae, is a genus of filamentous red algae with about 19 species on the coasts of the British Isles and about 200 species worldwide, including Crete in Greece, Antarctica and Greenland. Its members are known by ...

'', does not grow as tufts. It has erect cylindrical main branches and is densely branched growing to a height of 30 cm. The main branches bear lateral branches, each branch consists of a central axes of cells with four periaxial cells. These periaxial cells are arranged in an elongated manner all of the same length around the central axial cells. Cortical branches develop growing downwards in the grooves between the periaxial cells and increasing the thickness of the major branch. The final branches are pointed at the apex and attenuate at their base.Bunker, F. StP.D., Maggs, C.A., Bunker, A.R. 2017. ''Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.'' Second Edition. Wild Nature Press, Plymouth. Trichoblasts are few. It grows attached by a disk-like holdfast.Maggs, C.A. 1993 ''Seaweeds of the British Isles Volume 1 Rhodophyta Part 3A Ceramiales.'' HMSO

Habitat

''P. elongata'' grows

intertidal 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 sp ...

ly and

sublittoral 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 in ...

ly on rock,Hardy, F.G. and Guiry, M.D. 2003. ''A Check-list and Atlas of the Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.'' The British Phycological Society. stones and artificial material also on other algae.

Reproduction

The plants are

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

. Spermatangial branchlets are borne near the apices of young branches. Cystocarps are ovoid and slightly stalked. Tetraspores occur in spiral series in the upper branches.

Distribution

''P. elongata'' is common around

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 ...

,Morton, O. 1994.''Marine Algae of Northern Ireland.'' Ulster Museum,

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 ...

including the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

, the

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 ...

and the

Shetland Islands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...

. In the Atlantic 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 ...

to 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 ...

and in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q30594174 Rhodomelaceae