Biodiversity & Conservation

A red seaweed - Cryptopleura ramosa - General information

Cryptopleura ramosa

Image Keith Hiscock - A rock shelf dominated by Cryptopleura ramosa with Laminaria sp. at 20 m depth. Image width ca 1 m.
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Distribution map

Cryptopleura ramosa recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Cryptopleura ramosa is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Joelene Hughes Text page icon Refereed by:

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Class Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Distributed around Britain and Ireland, being recorded more commonly in the south and sparsely in the east.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found subtidally growing on rock and Laminaria hyperborea stipes. Grows on shaded areas on the sides of deep pools or under the cover of Fucus species in the intertidal.
Text page icon Description A short thallus with a stout midrib arises from a discoid holdfast, widening as it branches into flattened red-brown or red-purple fronds to a height of 20 cm. The fronds are thin and membranous, around 2.5 cm in width and may have a slight blue iridescence under water. Repeated branching gives it a bushy tangled appearance with the branches tapering to rounded tips. Morphology is variable and blades can be either erect or prostrate and broadly-wedged or strap-shaped. Margins may be smooth, undulating, denticulate or hooked. frequently with a blue iridescence underwater.

This review can be cited as follows:

Joelene Hughes 2003. Cryptopleura ramosa. A red seaweed. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3099>