Dear Kersen

I am not specialist in seaweeds from Mediterranean but, I think that this seaweed belongs to the Family"Ceramiaceae".

I am very curious now.

Regards

I specify that this red alga has collected from the exposed site in March at 1m depth.

Centroceras clavulatum probably.

http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=731

It's a Centroceras, probably C. gasparrinii

Dear Kersen,

I am a Japanese phycologist. This species is a Centroceras sp. Probably, the name of this species is a so-called C. clavulatum. But, C. clavulatum was separated to many species now. Please check the following literatures.

Won et al. (2009) Morphological and molecular characterization of species of the genus Centroceras (Ceramiaceae, Ceramiales), including two new species. J. Phycol. 45: 227-250.

Won et al. (2010) Two new species of Centroceras (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta) from

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Euro. J. Phycol. 45: 240-246.

Regards

Dear Kersen,

I do agree with Michael Guiry, no doubt he is the most pioneer in this area of seaweed identification. It is certainly a species of genus Centroceras (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta). Plz see attached article for confirmation...and details

It's a Centroceras, see also the work of Cho, T. O., follows a manuscript Barros-Barreto et al. (2006) for Brazil, which has several references Cho.

This is a species of Centroceros. It is a common warm temperate to tropical member of the Cerramiaceae. I can't identify the species without more microscopic analysis and I don't have the right keys with me to help you out. You might check the photos in AlgaeBase.

Dear Kersen,

It's really Ceramiaceae, but I advise you to do some cross section to see the cell arrangement and to take some mesurements to reach the species. In Brazil, we have an specialist in this group that can help you. Her name is Maria Beatriz Barreto ([email protected]). I found some references below that could give you some idea.

Best wishes,

Daniela

Wolf, M.A. ; Sciuto, K. ; MAGGS, Christine A. ; BARROS-BARRETO, M. B. ; Andreoli, C. ; Moro, I. . Ceramium Roth (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from Venice lagoon (Adriatic Sea, Italy): comparative studies of Mediterranean and Atlantic of a complex genus. Taxon, v. 60, p. 1584-1595, 2011.

BARROS-BARRETO, M. B. ; MCIVOR, Lynne ; MAGGS, Christine A. ; FERREIRA, Paulo Cavalcanti Gomes . Molecular Systematics of Ceramium and Centroceras (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta) from Brazil . Journal of Phycology, v. 42, p. 905-921, 2006

It is Centroceras, but if you are interested in usefull keys for western Mediterranean Sea:

- If you know spanish, I recomend you "La familia Ceramiaceae "sensu lato" en la costa de Bizkaia" that you can download in this website http://www.ehu.es/ojs/index.php/Guineana/article/view/7895 or the book "Algas, hongos y fanerógamas de las Islas Canarias" which is more general and have very usefull identification keys.

- Furthermore, the colletion "seaweeds of the British Isles" is usefull for the Mediterranean too.

- Other usefull books without identification keys could be "Macroalgas y fanerógamas marinas del Mediterráneo Occidental" or "Guides des algues des mer d´Europe" (I know that it is available and spanish and french, but I suppose that in english too).

- I know that exist one volume of "Historia Natural dels Països Catalans" about seaweeds.

There are more books but I do not know if you are looking for something very specific or general.

I need the photograph of the specimen to confirm

Hello. By the morphological characteristics possible to see through your images and according to Won et al. (key, description and images), it looks like C. clavulatum. But we cannot confirmm without analysis of other anatomical aspects. A transversal cut, analyses of periaxial cells, apical cells, spines and mainly reprodutive structures would help alot. Good luck.

Without the fruiting bodies, it is a difficult task. However, it appears to have 4 periaxial cells: you could search into the group of oligosiphonia. You should get the Coppejans keys

Hi Kersen, I am not specialist in marine algae but I agree with the colleagues who propose that it is a specimen of Centroceras.

It could be Centroceras clavulatum or Centroceras Gasparrinii. It depends by the precence of ovoid gland cells and tetrasporangia with involucral branchlets (characters in C. gasparrinii). This link could help you to figure out:

http://central.oak.go.kr/search/detailarticle.jsp?article_seq=10238&tabname=abst&resource_seq=null&keywords=null

Let me know!

Dear Kersen

Although your photographs is more blurred, it is Centroceras. This is clear. I think, If you want to sent a little sample, I try to identify as species.

[email protected]

Thank you all for helping me to recognise this alga. At the beginning I suspected some relation to Ceramium family but according to Seaweeds of the British Isles it was impossible to hit the right genus. It was very helpful to look through several Centrocerus systematics references. Now I can conclude that it is very likely Centrocerus gasparrinii (after nr of intervals, axes diameter, branching pattern and spines) but due to the fact that it has no reproductive structures I think it is honest to name it Centrocerus sp. Besides, specimen is very tiny thus the algal material is not enough on a good condition to take more morphological analyses. Nevertheless, I got familiar with very interesting cosmopolitan genus. Thank You again for a comprehensive discussion.

Hi Priit, I must appreciate Michael and Masahiro for their valuble comments regarding this. Your specimen is Centroceras sp. For species level you have to go through the transverse section of the nodal and internodal portion of the alga and also need to observe their cellular arrangement, cell size etc.

This species is a Centroceras sp but im not overly familiar with this species so i cant help anymore than that.

It is a species of the genus Centroceros. Could you kindly send photograph of the alga with its tip region ?

Most probably it is Centroceras clavulatun

Looks like a species within the genus Ceramium. Just a suggestion since I work mostly with Atlantic species.

Hi Kersen,

I must appreciate Prof. Suzuki, this is a spp. of Centroceros. As I previously said take a fine section of the filament and observe the cellular details of it viz. the arrangement of cells and the pattern of arrangement.

with regards

Lembra muito um espécime da rodófita Centroceras muito comum na costa brasileira.

Prof. Alexandre Pedrini

Rio de Janeiro State University

Dear Priit

i think This species is a polysiphonia sp.

Dear Amol:

The taxon under discusion is not a Polysiphonia, several researchers comments it is a Centroceras and I agree with them.

Polysiphonia is very different, it show four to several pericentral cells that have the same lenght that the axial cell which form them.

I include three illustrative pictures obtained from Algaebase.

Regards. Eugenia

 Centroceras clavulatum, thalli tufted,  each dichotomy of equal length, ultimate branches incurved in pairs;each segment in younger portions with several spines of 1 or 2 cells. abundant on sand, rocks,  mostly epiphytic. Common in most oceans (Abbott and Holleneberg, 1976)