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Rhodomelaceae

Brooke Stuercke and D. Wilson Freshwater
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Containing group: Ceramiales

Introduction

The Rhodomelaceae is estimated to be the largest red algal family (Scagel, 1953; Dawson, 1966; Abbott, 1999) with about 125 genera and some 700 species recognized worldwide (Kraft, 1981). This family displays great diversity in vegetative structure but appears to be uniform in reproductive development (Scagel, 1953; Dawson, 1966). Rhodomelaceae are uniaxial and polysiphonious. The polysiphonious structure results from the cells of the central axial filament cutting off pericentral cells by longitudinal tangential divisions (Stegenga, et al. 1997). The Rhodomelaceae differ from other Ceramiales families by the formation of pericentral cells in an alternating fashion. Characteristics of the Rhodomelaceae based upon Scagel (1953), Hommersand (1963), Maggs & Hommersand (1993), Stegenga et al. (1997), Abbott (1999), and Womersley (2003) are listed below.

Characteristics

References

Abbott, I.A. 1999. Marine red algae of the Hawaiian Islands. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. xv + 465 pp.

Dawson, E.Y. 1966. Marine Botany, An Introduction. Holt Rinehart & Winston, Inc., New York. 371 pp.

Hommersand, M.H. 1963. The morphology and classification of some Ceramiaceae and Rhodomelaceae. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 35: 165-366.

Kraft, G.T. 1981. Rhodophyta, morphology and classification. In: The Biology of Seaweeds (Ed. by C.S. Lobban & M.J. Wynne), pp. 6-51. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.

Maggs, C.A. and M.H. Hommersand. 1993. Seaweeds of the British Isles, Volume 1 Rhodophyta, Part 3a Ceramiales. HMSO, London. 444 pp.

Scagel, R.F. 1953. A morphological study of some dorsiventral Rhodomelaceae. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 27: 1-108.

Stegenga, H., J.J. Bolton and R.J. Anderson. 1997. Seaweeds of the South African West Coast.

Womersley, H.B.S. 2003. The marine benthic flora of Southern Australia Part IIID. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. 533 pp.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Chondria dasyphylla (Woodward) C. Agardh
Location Onslow Bay, North Carolina 27m depth
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By D. Wilson Freshwater
Behavior Rather beautiful swaying
Collection WNC2004-065
Collector D. Wilson Freshwater & Ken Johns
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2006
Scientific Name Melanamansia fimbrifolia R.E. Norris
Location Grant's Reef, Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 52-55m depth
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By D. Wilson Freshwater
Behavior Growing on sediment covered deep reef
Collection WNC2006-036
Collector D. Wilson Freshwater & Kerry Sink
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Lenormandiopsis nozawae R.E. Norris
Location Grant's Reef, Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 52-55m depth
Identified By D. Wilson Freshwater
Behavior Growing on sediment covered reef.
Collection Herbarium specimen WNC2006-031
Collector D. Wilson Freshwater & Ken Johns
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page

Work on the Rhodomelaceae Tree of Life page was supported by NSF PEET grant DEB-0328491 and the Friends of CMS DNA Algal Trust.


University of North Carolina at Wilmington


University of North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Brooke Stuercke at and D. Wilson Freshwater at

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Stuercke, Brooke and D. Wilson Freshwater. 2006. Rhodomelaceae. Version 22 September 2006 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Rhodomelaceae/23531/2006.09.22 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

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For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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