BIOTIC Species Information for Ahnfeltia plicata
Researched byWill Rayment Data supplied byMarLIN
Refereed byDr Fabio Rindi
General Biology
Growth formFoliose
Turf
Crustose soft
Feeding methodPhotoautotroph
Mobility/MovementPermanent attachment
Environmental positionEpilithic
Typical food typesNot relevant HabitAttached
BioturbatorNot relevant FlexibilityHigh (>45 degrees)
FragilityIntermediate SizeMedium(11-20 cm)
Height Growth RateSee additional information
Adult dispersal potentialNone DependencyIndependent
SociabilitySolitary
Toxic/Poisonous?No
General Biology Additional InformationGrowth rate
Maggs & Pueschel (1989) recorded observations on growth of Ahnfeltia plicata from Nova Scotia. 4 months after germination of carpospores, tetrasporophyte crusts had grown up to 2.6 mm in diameter. 2 months after germination of tetraspores, the basal holdfast had reached 1.1 mm in diameter, with numerous hair like fronds emerging. After 14 months the axes had grown up to 50 mm in length.
In a continuous spray culture with water at 8-11°C and light intensities of 40-60 µE/m²/s, mean apical growth of Ahnfeltia plicata was 17.2 µm/day over 19 days (Indergaard et al., 1986). Permanently immersed plants under the same conditions grew at approximately 7 µm/day. Conversely, percentage biomass increase was greater under the permanent immersion regime; 0.57% increase in mass/day vs. 0.20% for the plants in spray culture (Indergaard et al., 1986).
Biology References Fish & Fish, 1996, Dickinson, 1963, Dixon & Irvine, 1977, Maggs & Pueschel, 1989, Indergaard et al., 1986, Bird et al., 1991,
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