''Amphibolis antarctica'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Cymodoceaceae Cymodoceaceae is a family of flowering plants, sometimes known as the "manatee-grass family", which includes only marine species. The 2016 APG IV does recognize Cymodoceaceae and places it in the order Alismatales, in the clade monocots. The fam ...

. It is referred to by the common names wire weedRippey, Elizabeth and Rowland, Barbara (2004) ''Coastal Plants: Perth and the south-west region'' Second Edition, Crawley, W.A. University of Western Australia Press. - page 248 or sea nymph, and is a

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

found in coastal waters of southern and western

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

It is a herbaceous perennial up to 80 centimetres high. It has shorter leaves than the other ''

Amphibolis ''Amphibolis'' is a genus in the family Cymodoceaceae. It includes two species of sea grass endemic to the western and southern coast of Australia, ''Amphibolis antarctica'' and ''Amphibolis griffithii'', commonly known as sea nymph or wire w ...

'' species, '' A. griffithii''. Its flowers are green, and appear from September to February.

Taxonomy

First published as ''Ruppia antarctica'' by

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

in 1807, it has since been moved into numerous genera. It was named ''Caulinia antarctica'' by Robert Brown in 1810, ''Posidonia antarctica'' by C. P. J. Sprengel in 1824, '' Cymodocea antarctica'' by C. S. Kunth in 1841, and ''Phucagrostis antarctica'' by F. J. Ruprecht in 1852. It was finally placed in ''

'' by

Paul Friedrich August Ascherson Paul Friedrich August Ascherson (June 4, 1834 – March 6, 1913) was a German botanist. His author citation is ''Asch.'', although ''Aschers.'' has been used in the past. Ascherson was born in Berlin in 1834 as the son of health counsellor. In 1 ...

in 1868, but in 1913 J. M. Black renamed it ''Pectinella antarctica''. Since 1977 it is widely accepted as belonging to ''Amphibolis''.

Distribution and habitat

The species is generally reported as occurring from

Exmouth Gulf Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north-west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the Pilbara Coast and Northwest Shelf, and the Carnarvon Basin geologi ...

on the north-west coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, south along the west coast and east along the south coast as far as

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. However

FloraBase ''FloraBase'' is a public access web-based database of the flora of Western Australia. It provides authoritative scientific information on 12,978 taxa, including descriptions, maps, images, conservation status and nomenclatural details. 1,272 alie ...

reports an isolated specimen record from east of

Port Hedland A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, over 500 kilometres north-east of Exmouth Gulf. It occur primarily in the

sublittoral zone The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

, where it forms extensive

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s. It can occur as deep as 27 metres, but does not often form meadows below 13 metres. It can also grow in extremely shallow waters, with its leaves floating on the surface, although this often results in leaf damage and loss. The species tolerates a range of habitats. It has been found growing on a variety of substrates, including sand-covered rock, gravel, sand and clay. It grows in areas of both high and low water flow, and occurs in areas of very high salinity.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4748211 Cymodoceaceae Angiosperms of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Monocots of Australia Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière Taxa named by Paul Friedrich August Ascherson Plants described in 1807