Ectocarpales is a very large
order in the
brown algae
Brown algae (singular: alga), comprising the class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multicellular algae, including many seaweeds located in colder waters within the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and p ...
(class Phaeophyceae). The order includes families with
pseudoparenchymatous (
Splachnidiaceae
Splachnidiaceae is a family of brown algae in the order Scytothamnales
Scytothamnales is an order of brown algae
Brown algae (singular: alga), comprising the class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multicellular algae, including many sea ...
) or true
parenchymatous (
Scytosiphonaceae) tissue. Pseudoparenchymatous refers to a filamentous alga with cells packed very close together to give an appearance of parenchymatous tissue, the latter being composed of cells which can truly divide in three dimensions, unusual among the
algae. Filamentous algae are composed of cells that divide along a single plane, allowing only elongation to form filaments of one or more rows of cells. Algae that can divide in two planes can form sheet-like
thalli
Thallus (plural: 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. Many of these organisms were ...
or bodies. Cells that can divide in a third plane potentially allow for the organism to develop a more complex body plan, and diversification of body plans into an erect thallus of some sort and a
holdfast for attaching the upright portion to the substrate.
A 2014 classification recognizes the following families:
*
Acinetosporaceae Hamel ex J Feldmann
*
Adenocystaceae F Rousseau, B. de Reviers, M.-C. Leclerc, A Asensi, and R Delépine
*
Chordariaceae
Chordariaceae is a family of brown algae. Members of this family are may be filamentous, crustose with fused cells at the base, or they may be terete and differentiated into a central medulla and an outer photosynthetic cortex. They have a spo ...
Greville
*
Ectocarpaceae C Agardh
*
Petrospongiaceae Racault et al.
*
Scytosiphonaceae Farlow
References
Further reading
External links
Brown algae orders
{{Phaeophyceae-stub