Biodiversity & Conservation

A red seaweed - Bornetia secundiflora

A red seaweed

Do you have an image for this species? upload it here

Distribution map

Bornetia secundiflora recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Bornetia secundiflora?
If so please submit your record.

Bornetia secundiflora is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Class Florideophyceae
Authority (J Agardh) Thuret (1855)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Confined to south Devon, south Cornwall, The Isles of Scilly and the Channel Isles.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Bornetia secundiflora grows on boulders and bedrock, often under overhangs, from just below extreme low water to 3 m depth. It tolerates sand on rocks and moderately to extreme wave exposure.
Text page icon Description Bornetia secundiflora is dark red in colour, firm and rigid when fresh. The thallus is 5-20 cm high when erect, fan-shaped with blunt tips (apices), much branched and tufted, with branches often curved over. The plant has a jelly-like texture. Branches are sparse at the base becoming more dense towards the apices.
Identifying features
  • Dark red in colour.
  • Fan-shaped branches.
  • Cylindrical apical cells.
  • Rigid and firm texture.
Additional information icon Additional information Bornetia secundiflora shows little variation other than in overall size. The species is one of the most easily recognisable member of the Ceramiaceae. The only confusion possible is with Griffithsia corallinoides, from which it differs by the rigid rather than flaccid texture and the cylindrical rather than bead-like apical cells.

This review can be cited as follows:

Rose Edwards 2003. Bornetia secundiflora. 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/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2786>