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Ochrophyta · Brown Seaweed

Eualaria fistulosa

(Postels & Ruprecht) M.J.Wynne
Phylum
Ochrophyta
Class
Phaeophyceae
Order
Laminariales
Family
Alariaceae

Eualaria fistulosa

Dragon kelp

Authority
(Postels & Ruprecht) M.J.Wynne
Thallus of this canopy-forming kelp is brown with a large branching holdfast (haptera), a stipe 25 cm (10 in) long, and a blade with midrib up to 25 m (82 ft) long and 1 m (3.2 ft) wide. The midrib is 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in) wide with gas-filled chambers (fistulae) that hold the blade in the water column. Reproductive sporophylls develop on the upper portion of the stipe.

Habitat

This fast growing annual occurs on rock from the low intertidal to subtidal and forms offshore kelp beds in cold, semi-protected to exposed habitats.

North Pacific Distribution

Aleutian Islands to southern Southeast Alaska; Japan; Russia

Former scientific names

Alaria fistulosa, Druehlia fistulosa

References

Last updated December 26, 2010

Photos