''Chondrus crispus''—commonly called Irish moss or carrageen moss (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

''carraigín'', "little rock")—is a species of red algae which grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the

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 an ...

coast of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and North America. In its fresh condition this

protist A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the exc ...

is soft and cartilaginous, varying in color from a greenish-yellow, through red, to a dark purple or purplish-brown. The principal constituent is a mucilaginous body, made of the polysaccharide

carrageenan Carrageenans or carrageenins ( ; ) are a family of natural linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. T ...

, which constitutes 55% of its dry weight. The organism also consists of nearly 10% dry weight protein and about 15% dry weight

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

matter, and is rich in iodine and sulfur. When softened in

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

it has a sea-like odour and because of the abundant cell wall polysaccharides it will form a jelly when boiled, containing from 20 to 100 times its weight of

Description

''Chondrus crispus'' is a relatively small sea alga, reaching up to a little more than 20 cm in length. It grows from a discoid holdfast and branches four or five times in a dichotomous, fan-like manner. The morphology is highly variable, especially the broadness of the thalli. The branches are 2–15 mm broad and firm in texture, and the color ranges from bright green towards the surface of the water, to deep red at greater depths. The

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 ...

s (see below) often show a blue iridescence at the tip of the fronds and fertile sporophytes show a spotty pattern. ''

Mastocarpus stellatus ''Mastocarpus stellatus,'' commonly known as carrageenan moss or false Irish moss, is a species in the Rhodophyceae division, a red algae seaweed division, and the Phyllophoracea family. ''M. stellatus'' is closely related to Irish Moss (''Ch ...

'' (Stackhouse) Guiry is a similar species which can be readily distinguished by its strongly channelled and often somewhat twisted thalli.

Distribution

''Chondrus crispus'' is common all around the shores of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and can also be found along the coast of Europe including

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. western

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to southern

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. It is found on the Atlantic coasts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and recorded from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the

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to Japan. However, any distribution outside the Northern Atlantic needs to be verified. There are also other species of the same genus in the Pacific Ocean, for example, ''C. ocellatus'' Holmes, ''C. nipponicus'' Yendo, ''C. yendoi'' Yamada ''et'' Mikami, ''C. pinnulatus'' (Harvey) Okamura and ''C. armatus'' (Harvey) Yamada ''et'' Mikami.Hu, Z., Critchley, A.T., Gao T, Zeng X, Morrell, S.L. and Delin, D. 2007 Delineation of Chondrus (Gigartinales, Florideophyceae) in China and the origin of C. crisps inferred from molecular data. Marine Biology Research, 3: 145-154

Ecology

''Chondrus crispus'' is found growing on rock from the middle intertidal

zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

into the subtidal zone, all the way to the ocean floor. It is able to survive with minimal sunlight. ''C. crispus'' is susceptible to infection from the

oomycete Oomycota forms a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms, called oomycetes (). They are filamentous and heterotrophic, and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction of an oospore is the resul ...

'' Pythium porphyrae''.

Uses

''C. crispus'' is an industrial source of

commonly used as a thickener and stabilizer in milk products, such as

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

and processed foods. In Europe, it is indicated as E407 or E407a. It may also be used as a thickener in calico printing and paper marbling, and for fining

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

. Irish moss is frequently used with ''Mastocarpus stellatus'' (''Gigartina mamillosa''), ''Chondracanthus acicularis '' (''G. acicularis''), and other seaweeds, which are all commonly found growing together. Carrageenan may be extracted from tropical seaweeds of the genera '' Kappaphycus'' and '' Eucheuma''.

Life history

Irish moss undergoes an alternation of generation lifecycle common in many species of algae (see figure below). The two distinct stages are the sexual haploid

stage and the asexual diploid sporophyte stage. In addition, a third stage - the

carposporophyte {{Short pages monitor