Dear Armando if may be Gracilaria textorii, if possible please add some more photographs for proper identification. Thank you
Can you show a cross section under a microscope? It seem Codium.
Dear Armando:
I think it is an species of Codium, it is similar to C. decorticatum, which type locality is the Mediterranean Sea. Check if the thallus is spongy, with an external palisade of vesicles called utricles.
Good luck with the determination.
Eugenia
Ramifications are rather irregular with many lateral branches. This is characteristic of Codium vermilara.
Dear Armando and Pierrick:
According with the literature C. decorticatum is similar to C. vermilara. Nevertheless, the Codium vermilara’s branches are cylindrical and not flattened as in C. decorticatum. Oliveira-Carvalho et al. (2010) pointed out that C. decorticatum shows sometimes polytomous branching. Armando's material shows branches flattened, broadened below ramifications and polytomous. The morphology of the utricles is an important feature.
The determination of the species of the Genus Codium it is not easy and I am not a specialist, you would need bibliography.
I found an interesting paper in which some species of Codium from Brazil are described and illustrated:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233561004_Taxonomy_and_distribution_of_the_green_algal_genus_Codium_%28Bryopsidales_Chlorophyta%29_in_Brazil
Good luck with your determination.
Kind regards.
Eugenia
Article Taxonomy and distribution of the green algal genus Codium (B...
thank you for your precious help! I will check on the publication some more references to consult!
Dear friend:
Codium is a very plastic genus in terms of its morphology. Many species have identical gross morphology and even utricles are similar. We can have a general idea from where it comes. Did you collect it in the Mediterranean sea? Can you give us a drawing of its utricles? Finally, it seems that the best approach, at this moment, is to use molecular markers: rbcL, tufA, COX1 or 16S. You can also check:
Verbruggen, H., F. Leliaert, C. A. Maggs, S. Shimada, T. Schils, J. Provan, D. Booth, S. Murphy, O. De Clerck, D. S. Littler, M. M. Littler and E. Coppejans. 2007. Species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships within the green algal genus Codium (Bryopsidales) based on plastid DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44(1): 240-254.
Good luck
Francisco
Dear Armando Macali
It is genus Codium. Nature of utricles becomes important feature to identify various species of the genus. Study the nature of utricle and follow the literature suggested by Eugenia A. Sar to identify the species.
I will check the molecular markers soon. I' m interested in this specimen since it has been found close to an Termo.electric farm, just near the output of the cooling water of the factory This spot is abundant in alien species and since I never seen before this species I was wondering if it could be an alien
It could be a Codium fragile var. mucronatum or a Codium decorticatum old. Take a little part of the thallus and prepare and slide to see the internal structure.
Dear Armando
with out study of the anatomy I think it is difficult to identify this seaweed, if it is Codium, the thallus cosists of a crustose prostrate portion that bears several cylindrical dichotomously branched shoots. These shoots are extensively branched. The thallus is spongy to touch. Please check the morphology of the specimen.
In the cross section, the branches have a central medulla consisting of interwoven colorless filements that give rise to in flated branclets called utricles or vesicles, which constitute the cortex, surrounding medulla. You please take the TS as well as LS of the thallus and compare with above characters.
Thank you and all the best
It looks like a Codium but you need to do a real identification using a Mediterranean macroalgal key
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