Electronic Flora of South Australia Species Fact Sheet

Caulerpa remotifolia Sonder.

Phylum Chlorophyta – Order Caulerpales – Family Caulerpaceae

Selected citations: Harvey 1859a: pl. 107. Weber van Bosse 1898: 286. Womersley 1956: 369.

Stolon usually relatively slender, (0.5–) 0.7–1 mm in diameter, naked, usually in a sandy mud substrate (or on jetty piles). Erect fronds (Fig. 86B) medium green, simple to several times irregularly branched, usually 15–30 cm high, terete below and above with a flattened axis 1–2 (–3.5) mm broad, bearing alternately and distichously arranged ramuli usually separated when mature by at least their basal width but often distantly scattered and occasionally absent on some axes. Ramuli (Fig. 87B) compressed, (2–) 4–6 (–10) mm long and 0.5- l(–1.5) mm broad, linear or basally broadest adjacent to the axis, tapering throughout or more so near their apices, with a short spinous tip.

Lectotype from Lefevre Peninsula, S. Aust. (F. Mueller); in MEL, 503816.

Selected specimens: Outer Harbour, S. Aust., drift ( Womersley, 16.vii.1950; ADU, A13290). Muston, American R. inlet, Kangaroo I., S. Aust., edge of channel (Womersley, 29.ix.1964; ADU, A28219). Kirk Point, Port Phillip, Vic., drift ( Womersley, 30.viii.1971; ADU, A39516). Crawfish Rock, Westernport Bay, Vic., 4 m deep (Watson, 29.v.1974; ADU, A45395). Spring Bay, Tas. (Perrin 68, Mar. 1935; ADU, A47096).

Distribution map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of SA

Distribution: In very sheltered bays on the north coast of Kangaroo I. (Bay of Shoals, American River inlet) and Gulf St Vincent, S. Aust., Port Phillip and Western Port, Vic., and Spring Bay on the east coast of Tasmania.

Taxonomic notes: C. remotifolia is confined to very sheltered inlets where it occurs from low water level to at least 10 metres deep. The density of the ramuli is very variable and some plants approach C. scalpelliformis in appearance (e.g. the Westernport Bay, Victoria, and Spring Bay, Tasmania specimens cited above). Most plants of these two species are, however, distinct in habit and in habitat, the latter occurring in moderate to strong water movement.

References:

HARVEY, W.H. (1859a). Phycologia Australica. Vol. 2, Plates 61–120. (Reeve: London.)

WEBER van BOSSE, A. (1898). Monographie des Caulerpes. Ann. Jardin Bot. Buitenzorg 15, 243–401, Plates 20–34.

WOMERSLEY, H.B.S. (1956). A critical survey of the marine algae of southern Australia. I. Chlorophyta. Aust. J. mar. freshw. Res. 7, 343–383.

The Marine Benthic Flora of Southern Australia Part I complete list of references.

Author: H.B.S. Womersley

Publication: Womersley, H.B.S. (31 May, 1984)
The Marine Benthic Flora of Southern Australia
Part I
©Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium, Government of South Australia

Illustrations in Womersley Part I, 1984: FIGS 86B, 87B.

Figure 86   enlarge

Fig. 86. A. Caulerpa alternans (ADU, A33416). B. Caulerpa remotifolia (ADU, A28219). C. Caulerpa distichophylla (ADU, A50590). D. Caulerpa scalpelliformis (ADU, A31660). E. Caulerpa scalpelliformis (ADU, A31825). F. Caulerpa ellistoniae (ADU, A 13426).

Figure 87   enlarge

Fig. 87. A. Caulerpa alternans (ADU, A33416). B. Caulerpa remotifolia. upper (BI) and mid (B2) parts of erect frond (ADU, A2829). C. Caulerpa distichophylla, upper (CI) and mid (C2) parts of erect frond (ADU, A50590). D. Caulerpa scalpelliformis, upper (DI) and mid (D2) parts of erect frond (ADU. A31660). E. Caulerpa scalpelliformis, upper (EI) and mid (E2) parts of erect frond (ADU, A31825). F. Caulerpa ellistoniae, upper (FI) and mid (F2) parts of erect frond (ADU, A13426).

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