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Genus (i.e. Fucus)
Species (i.e. Gardneri)
Common Name (i.e. Rock Weed)
Phylum (i.e. Ochrophyta)
All of the above
Sea Cellophane
Monostroma sp.
Authority:
North Pacific Distribution:
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to Monterey County, California; Korea; Japan; Russia
Phylum:
Chlorophyta
Class:
Ulvophyceae
Order:
Ulotrichales
Family:
Monostromataceae
Former Scientific Names:
misidentified as Monostroma grevillei, Monostroma arcticum
Description: A young thallus starts out as a sac and as it matures splits and forms a blade to 30 cm (12 in) tall although usually much smaller. The delicate, light green and transparent blade is due to a single layer of cells forming a blade only 30 μm thick. Cells are ~16 μm diam. Habitat: The species occurs in the spring on protected and semi-protected coasts and can grow epiphytically on other seaweeds such as Fucus. Similar taxa: Kornmannia, Ulva, Ulvaria.
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