Biodiversity & Conservation

A red seaweed - Phyllophora crispa

Phyllophora crispa

Image Francisco Arenas - Specimen of Phyllophora crispa. Image width ca 9 cm.
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Distribution map

Phyllophora crispa 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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Phyllophora crispa is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Rhodophyta Red seaweeds
Class Florideophyceae
Authority (Hudson) Dixon
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Phyllophora crispa occurs on all coasts around the British Isles. Records from eastern England are few, probably reflecting a lack of suitable substrata.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Phyllophora crispa grows on rock subtidally to depths of 30 m and is commonly found in shady pools in lower intertidal areas.
Text page icon Description A bright red or pink seaweed. Each plant has a small disk-shaped base and erect fronds. The fronds consist of short cylindrical stipes (stalks) rarely longer than 1cm long and blades which may be up to 15 cm long and 10 mm wide. The fronds are dichotomously branched, with undulating margins and an indistinct midrib. The tip of each frond is distinctly rounded. The fronds are perennial and in some case 5 or 6 new periods of growth can be identified. Regeneration occurs following erosion or animal grazing. Continual regeneration leads to great variation in the appearance of individual plants as each new growth could come from the end, margin or surface of the blade. Fronds are frequently encrusted with the spiral tube worm Spirorbis spirorbis or bryozoans.
Identifying features
  • Flat red or pink fronds.
  • Short fronds with undulating margins.
  • Tips of fronds are rounded.
  • Holds its shape out of water.
  • Due to continual regeneration, successive growth episodes on each plant can be easily identified.
Additional information icon Additional information Phyllophora crispa is a cartilaginous seaweed and can, therefore, hold its shape out of water.

This review can be cited as follows:

Jessica Heard 2005. Phyllophora crispa. 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=4117>