Biodiversity & Conservation

Red rags - Dilsea carnosa - General information

Dilsea carnosa

Image Keith Hiscock - Dilsea carnosa with snakelocks anemones in background. Image width ca 30 cm.
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Distribution map

Dilsea carnosa 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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Dilsea carnosa is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Anna Neish Text page icon Refereed by:

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Class Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Widespread in the British Isles but more abundant in the south of England.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Usually found in the lower littoral to shallow sublittoral attached to rocks.
Text page icon Description One of the larger red seaweeds, Dilsea carnosa plants are tough and leathery. Several dark reddish brown, flat, blades gradually expand from a single disc shaped holdfast, and have short cylindrical stipes. The blades do not have a midrib or veins and are simple wedge or spoon shaped. The blades can be 15-30 cm long and 5-20 cm wide. Older blades may be split from the margin towards the base but the rounded oblong (obovate) shape of the blade is never quite lost.

This review can be cited as follows:

Anna Neish 2003. Dilsea carnosa. Red rags. 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=3168>