Fucus spiralis

Taxobox | color = khaki
name = Spiral Wrack
image_width = 240px


regnum = Protista
divisio = Heterokontophyta
classis = Phaeophyceae
ordo = Fucales
familia = Fucaceae
genus = "Fucus"
species = "F. spiralis"
binomial = "Fucus spiralis"
binomial_authority = L.

"Fucus spiralis" is a species of seaweed, a brown alga (Heterokontophyta, Phaeophyceae), living on the littoral shore of the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America. It has the common names of spiral wrack and flat wrack.

Description

"Fucus spiralis" is olive brown in colour and similar to "Fucus vesiculosus" and "Fucus serratus". It grows to about 30 cms long and branches somewhat irregularily dichotomous. It attached by a discoid holdfast. The flattened blade has a distinct mid-reb and is usually spirally twisted without a serrated edge, as are to be seen in "Fucus serratus", and it does not show air-vesicles, as is "Fucus vesiculosus".Newton, L. 1931. "A Handbook of the British Seaweeds." British Museum, Natural History, London] Taylor,W.R. 1972. "Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America." Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press]

Life history

The reproductive bodies form rounded swollen tips on the branches, usually in pairs.In the conceptacles oögonia and antheridia are produced after meiosis and then released. Fertilisation follows and the zygote develops directly into the diploid sporophyte plant.

Ecology

The other common species of "Fucus" on the coasts of British Isles: "Fucus spiralis", "Fucus vesiculosus" and "Fucus serratus" along with "Ascophyllum nodosum" form the main and dominant seaweeds on rocky shores. These three species, along with two others "Pelvetia canaliculata" and "Ascophyllum nodosum" form a series of zones along the shore.Lewis, J.R. 1964. "The Ecology of Rocky Shores." The English Universities Press. ]

Distribution

"F. spiralis" is common on the coasts all around the British Isles.Hardy, G. and Guiry, M.D. 2006. "A Check-list and Atlas of the Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland." British Phycological Society] western coasts of Europe, Canary Islands and North-eastern America.

References

ee also

"Fucus vesiculosus"

"Fucus serratus"