Biodiversity & Conservation

A red seaweed - Lophosiphonia reptabunda

A red seaweed

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Distribution map

Lophosiphonia reptabunda recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Lophosiphonia reptabunda is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Class Florideophyceae
Authority (Suhr) Kylin (1956)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland This rare species has been recorded in Cork and Argyll.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Lophosiphonia reptabunda grows on bedrock, pebbles and the holdfast of Fucus vesiculosus on shaded rock faces. The species inhabits the upper intertidal zone and muddy or sandy shores near extreme low water.
Text page icon Description Lophosiphonia reptabunda is a small dark brown seaweed up to 2 cm in length with a fairly rigid texture. The axes is formed of many filiments (polysiphonous). It forms dense mats 0.5-2 cm thick consisting of intertwined erect and non-erect stems, often interconnected by rhizoids (rootlets springing from the sides and base of the stem). Branching is frequently at irregular intervals, often in pairs on opposite sides of the dorsal midline on successive or alternate segments.
Identifying features
  • Dark brown in colour.
  • Rigid texture.
  • Up to 2 cm in length.
Additional information icon Additional information There is relatively little variation in this species, except that erect stems can either be simple or bear a twisted arrangement of lateral branches (Maggs & Hommersand 1993).

This review can be cited as follows:

Rose Edwards 2003. Lophosiphonia reptabunda. 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 09/02/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3730>