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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
Splendid Iridescent Seaweed
Mazzaella splendens
Authority:
(Setchell et N.L. Gardner) Fredericq
North Pacific Distribution:
Northern Southeast Alaska, to Baja California, Mexico.
Phylum:
Rhodophyta
Class:
Florideophyceae
Order:
Gigartinales
Family:
Gigartinaceae
Former Scientific Names:
Iridaea cordata var. cordata, I. cordata var. splendens, I. splendens
Description: Thallus is an undivided, cordate to lanceolate blade, to 30 cm (12 in) or taller, sometimes lobed, very rubbery, and usually an iridescent brownish or purplish red. Northern specimens are smaller than those found from British Columbia south. Habitat: This annual (with perennial crustose base) grows on rock in the low intertidal of semi-protected to exposed habitats.
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