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Catenella caespitosa (Withering) L.M. Irvine

Also known as Catenella repens (Lightfoot) Batters and Catenella opuntia (Goodenough & Woodward) Greville; Creeping Chain weed
Description: Spreading mat of interlaced blackish-purple to brownish fronds, to 20 mm high, irregularly branched, constricted into flattened segments like tiny Prickly Pear cacti, arising from creeping stolons with discoid attachments. Rarely reproductive, dispersing mainly by vegetative means.
Habitat: On sheltered shady rocks or soil near high tide level, often beneath Fucus spiralis, generally distributed, abundant. Common in saltmarshes. Often assoicated with thin brusts of Hildenbrandia (above).
Similar species: Gelidium pusillum.
Link: AlgaeBase

Catenella caespitosa © M.D. Guiry

Species list

Photographs © M.D. Guiry

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