''Schmitzia hiscockiana'' is a small, rare, red
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 ...
or
marine
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alga of the phylum
Rhodophyta
Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...
or red algae. It was discovered and named in 1985.
Distribution
This small red marine
alga is known from most coasts of
Ireland,
Wales,
England, and
Scandinavia.
Habitat
This species is known only from the
sublittoral zone to 15m depth; it grows on cobbles and pebbles.
The gametophyte plants exist between April and August, and are in the crustose phase from September to December.
Species description
The
gametophyte phase is a soft and gelatinous plant, no more than 8 cm long, 6 cm wide and a few millimeters thick. It is flattened and divided in a leaf-like manner with marginal proliferations. Rose pink in colour, the blades are composed of a filamentous axis bearing whorls of branchlets, four or five per axial cell. These whorls of branchlets form a cortex.
Life history
The plants are monoecious, bearing spermatia and
carpogonia. After fertilization and development of connecting filaments and fusion with intercalary vegetative cells, a carposporphyte develops. The
tetrasporophyte phase is crustose and unknown in the wild. It is bright red and grows to 6 mm in diameter and composed of a single basal layer of cells which produce erect filaments some of which produce tetraspores. These tetraspores develop and grow to give rise to the gametophyte generations.
[Maggs, C.A. and Guiry, M.D. 1985. Life history and reproduction of ''Schmitzia hiscockiana'' sp.nov. (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales) from the British Isles. ''Phycologia'' 24: 297 – 310]
Similar species
Other species of ''Schmitzia'' are distinct. ''S. neapolitana'' from the
North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
and
Mediterranean is always terete.
''S. hiscockiana'' is easily recognizable: it more closely resembles ''S. evanescens'' (
New Zealand) and ''S. japonica'' (
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
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 ...
).
References
External links
Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs et GuiryHabitasOnline, A National Museums Northern Ireland Website
Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs & GuiryDescription and pictures from Michael Guiry's Seaweed Site.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7431838
Gigartinales
Species described in 1985