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Genus (i.e. Fucus)
Species (i.e. Gardneri)
Common Name (i.e. Rock Weed)
Phylum (i.e. Ochrophyta)
All of the above
Mermaid's Tresses
Ulothrix flacca
Authority:
(Dillwyn) Thuret
North Pacific Distribution:
Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea and Aleutian Is., Alaska, to southern California; Korea; Japan; Russia.
Phylum:
Chlorophyta
Class:
Ulvophyceae
Order:
Ulotrichales
Family:
Ulotrichaceae
Former Scientific Names:
Conferva flacca, U. pseudoflacca
Description: Thallus is composed of unbranched filaments with a single file of cells (uniseriate) to 6 cm (~2.4 in) in length. The filaments usually appear coalesced and dark green on rock. The cells have a single nucleus, and although narrow (14-33 m diameter), they are shorter (5-15 m long) than wide. The single collar-shaped chloroplast fills the length of the cell but not the full circumference. Reproductive cells swell in the middle to 50 μm diam. Habitat: The species forms a very slippery coating on rock in the mid to high intertidal zone in protected to semi-exposed areas in spring and early summer. Similar taxa: Rosenvingiella, Urospora.
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