Ericaria selaginoides (Linnaeus) Molinari & Guiry
Other scientific names:
Cystoseira tamariscifolia
(Stackhouse) Papenfuss
Common names: Bushy Rainbow Wrack
Description: Thalli solitary, up to 1 m long,
bushy, with a pronounced greenish-blue, purplish or blue
iridescence when submerged (above) which rapidly disappears when
taken out of water; attached by a conical disc. Axis
cylindrical, up to 60 cm long, usually branched and with an
inconspicuous apex. Lateral branch systems arising in spiral
sequence, up to 60 cm long, profusely branched in a repeatedly
pinnate fashion, showing radial symmetry and bearing simple or
bifid spine-like appendages: deciduous, leaving prominent scars
or stumps. Cryptostomata present on branches and appendages. Air
vesicles often present in axes of ultimate ramuli; ovoid, up to
5 mm long. Receptacles 1-2 cm long, formed from terminal regions
of ultimate ramuli and the branches which bear them; irregularly
nodose and bearing short simple spine-like appendages; simple or
branched, often distal to an aerocyst.
Habitat: Found in large intertidal rock pools
and lagoons, where it can be a colourful addition to the flora;
also in shallow subtidal.
Why is it blue? The blue colour is the result
of opalescent crystals in vesicles of the cells, which improve
photosyntheis by modifying light trasmission. The amount of
available light drives the intensity of the colour: the darker
it is, the more intense the colour. It also seems to be
age-dependent in that the younger parts of the fronds have the
most intense colour.
Distribution: Southern and western shores of
Britain and Ireland, north to the Hebrides in Scotland;
Atlantic France and Spain south to North Africa; Western
Mediterranean.
Photographs © M.D. Guiry
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