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Rhodophyta · Red Seaweed

Odonthalia floccosa

(Esper) Falkenberg
Phylum
Rhodophyta
Class
Florideophyceae
Order
Ceramiales
Family
Rhodomelaceae

Odonthalia floccosa

Sea brush

Authority
(Esper) Falkenberg
Thallus is dark red to brownish-black (tips sometimes bleaching blond), growing to 40 cm (16 in) tall. Branching is profuse and alternate, with branches cylindrical to somewhat flattened basally, arranged in two rows on opposite sides of the axis (distichous branching). Tertiary branches bear clusters of short, pointed branchlets. Holdfast is discoidal.

Habitat

This perennial is found on rock in the low intertidal of semi-exposed and semi-protected habitats.

North Pacific Distribution

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, Alaska to northern Washington

Former scientific names

Fucus floccosus, Fuscaria floccosa, Lophura floccosa, Rhodomela floccosa

Similar taxa

Neorhodomela spp., Odonthalia comosa

References

Last updated December 26, 2010

Photos