Biodiversity & Conservation

Red rags - Dilsea carnosa

Image Keith Hiscock - Dilsea carnosa with snakelocks anemones in background. Image width ca 30 cm.
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Dilsea carnosa recorded () and expected () distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Dilsea carnosa is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy	Taxon	English term
Phylum	Rhodophyta	Red seaweeds
Class	Florideophyceae
Authority	(Schmidel) Kuntze (1893)
Recent synonyms	Dilsea edulis
Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland	Widespread in the British Isles but more abundant in the south of England.
Habitat information	Usually found in the lower littoral to shallow sublittoral attached to rocks.
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.
Identifying features	Large leathery dark red blades. Rounded oblong or spoon shape blades, split when older. Blades without midrib and gradually expanding from a short cylindrical stipe.
Additional information	Sometimes confused with Palmaria palmata and mistakenly called dulse.

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 09/02/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3168>

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Dilsea carnosa

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Dilsea carnosa