Hello, can somebody help me to identify this specie of Chlorphyte? I find it in a reef in front Veracruz and I think it´s a Caulerpa, but I am not sure.
it looks like Caulerpa taxifolia, please check the details in the literature.
Peter Sitte, Elmar Weiler, Joachim W. Kadereit, Andreas Bresinsky, Christian Körner: Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen. Begründet von E. Strasburger. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2002. ISBN 3-8274-1010-X
I agree with Dr. Uher regarding the genus level identification, but species may be Caulerpa sertularioides (photograph showing the morphology is not clear)
This is more likely Caulerpa mexicana. Caulerpa mexicana has branchlets that are not constricted at the base, and a flat midrib. Caulerpa taxifolia has branchlets that are constricted at the base, and a compressed but not flat midrib. Caulerpa mexicana is also more common in the Gulf of Mexico.
I think this is Caulerpa mexicana, which is widely distributed in mexican coasts. . We do not have reliable records of C. taxofolia in Mexico so far, which is good as C. taxifolia could be invasive.
We are starting the assesment of Caulerpa species from the tropical coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribean sea. We hope to solve some taxonomic conflicts in this interesting group of algae.
You can check more information for Mexico in CONABIO's website.
it look like caulerpa Mexicana, but c. mexicana is flat, and this do not look like that. more photos are needed of the habit, with a scale. how big is it?