Biodiversity & Conservation

A red seaweed - Plocamium cartilagineum - General information

Plocamium cartilagineum

Image Keith Hiscock - Plocamium cartilagineum Image width ca 15 cm.
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Distribution map

Plocamium cartilagineum recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Plocamium cartilagineum is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Jenny Smirthwaite Text page icon Refereed by:

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Class Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Widely distributed around Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Grows on rocks in shallow water and as an epiphyte on other seaweeds e.g. on the stipe of Laminaria hyperborea.
Text page icon Description A bright scarlet seaweed up to 30 cm in length with branching fronds. The branching occurs alternately along the fronds and becomes more frequent towards the tips. The general appearance of these seaweeds can greatly vary from very compact and closely branched to a much broader appearance with widely separated branching. The tips are incurving and ultimate branching occurs only to one side, giving a distinctive feathery or comb-like appearance.

This review can be cited as follows:

Jenny Smirthwaite 2006. Plocamium cartilagineum. 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=4148>