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Ochrophyta · Brown Seaweed

Pylaiella sp.

Phylum
Ochrophyta
Class
Phaeophyceae
Order
Ectocarpales
Family
Acinetosporaceae

Pylaiella sp.

Sea felt

Thallus is yellowish to dark brown and composed of uniseriate filaments to 60 μm diameter, richly branched in an opposite (rarely alternate) pattern (visible microscopically). Cells bearing opposite branches are often trapezoidal in shape. Reproductive cells are intercalary (not terminal) on branches. This species commonly grows on Rockweed and blooms into large mats, covering its host.

Habitat

This ephemeral species is found on rock, other algae, or free floating in the mid intertidal of protected and estuarine habitats.

North Pacific Distribution

Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, Alaska to southern California; Korea; Japan; Russia

Former scientific names

misidentified as Pylaiella littoralis

Similar taxa

Ectocarpus, Elachista, Sphacelariales

References

Last updated December 26, 2010

Photos