Biodiversity & Conservation

Bladder wrack - Fucus vesiculosus - General information

Fucus vesiculosus

Image Sue Scott - Fucus vesiculosus (on left) with Ascophyllum nodosum. Image width ca 50 cm.
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Distribution map

Fucus vesiculosus 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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Fucus vesiculosus is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Nicola White Text page icon Refereed by: Dr Stefan Kraan

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Ochrophyta Brown and yellow-green seaweeds
Class Phaeophyceae
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland All coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information The species is found intertidally on rocky shores in a wide range of exposures. It is common on the mid shore often with Ascophyllum nodosum, below Fucus spiralis and in a zone further up the shore from Fucus serratus.
Text page icon Description The bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus is a large brown algae, common on the middle shore. It can be found in high densities living for about 4-5 years (S. Kraan, pers. comm.). Under sheltered conditions, the fronds have been known to grow up to 2 m in Maine, America (Wippelhauser, 1996).

This review can be cited as follows:

Nicola White 2008. Fucus vesiculosus. Bladder wrack. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 20/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3348>