Biodiversity & Conservation

Dabberlocks - Alaria esculenta

Alaria esculenta

Image R. Mitchell - Exposed sublittoral fringe bedrock with Alaria esculenta, Isles of Scilly. Image width ca 1 m.
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Distribution map

Alaria esculenta 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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Alaria esculenta is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Ochrophyta Brown and yellow-green seaweeds
Class Phaeophyceae
Authority (Linnaeus) Greville1830
Recent synonyms Alaria platyrhiza
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Found around the Shetland Isles, Orkney and east coast of Scotland, south to Flamborough Head in England. Its distribution continues along the south west of England and the west coasts of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland including the Isle of Man.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Alaria esculenta is found at low water and in the subtidal to about 8 m depth on exposed rocky shores. In exceptionally high exposure (e.g. Rockall, UK and Scellig Islands, Ireland) it has been recorded to 35 m depth.
Text page icon Description Short cylindrical stipe (exceptionally up to 75 cm) continuing as a distinct midrib throughout the length of the narrow, ribbon-like, slightly wavy blade. Attached to substrate by claw-like holdfast termed haptera. The blade is yellowish, olive-green or rich brown in colour, supple to the touch and very flexible. Blade length varies seasonally but is usually between 30 cm - 1.5 m (exceptionally 4 m) in length. Blade may be tattered and torn by wave action sometimes leaving only the midrib at which point it may be confused with Chorda filum. Older plants may have flat, finger-like sporophylls, each up to 10 cm in length, growing from the stipe at the base of the blade. The sporophylls bear reproductive bodies called sori. When fertile the sori form a typical H-shaped figure on the sporophylls.
Identifying features
  • Plant with claw shaped holdfast, cylindrical stipe and flattened ribbon-like blade with distinct midrib.
  • No side veins in blade.
  • Un-branched (except for sporophylls near base).
  • Sporophylls have a narrow base and are widest at the tip; the rounded tips often slightly expanded.
Additional information icon Additional information Other common names include wing kelp, honeyware, edible fucus, and bladder locks in England; dabberlocks and keys in Scotland; and murlins, ribini, and Cupog nag Cloc in Ireland (Guiry 2000). The species name Alaria esculenta literally means 'edible wings'. This species was originally described as Fucus esculentus Linnaeus, 1767. The class Phaeophyceae may alternatively be classified in the Phylum Heterokontophyta ( Hoek van den et al. 1995).

Alaria (Phaeophyceae, Alariaceae) is a common genus of kelps in the northern hemisphere. Fourteen species are currently recognised of which three (Alaria esculenta (L.) Greville, Alaria pylaii (Bory de Saint-Vincent) Greville, and Alaria grandifolia J. Agardh) are reported for the cold -temperate North Atlantic Ocean. Alaria esculenta, the type species described originally from the North Atlantic, exhibits a range of biogeographically correlated morphotypes suggesting the possibility of multiple specific or intraspecific entities or hybrids (Kraan pers. comm.; Kraan & Guiry 2000 in press). A key to the species of the genus Alaria is given by Widdowson (1971).

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This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2008. Alaria esculenta. Dabberlocks. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 09/02/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2431>