Читать книгу Pacific Seaweeds - Louis Druehl - Страница 69

Green Seaweeds | 69

Identifying Pacific Seaweeds

that branch near the plant surface. There they differentiate into a beautiful scale-like “skin,” which can be viewed with the aid of a magnifying glass. These long cells, lacking regular cross-walls, are packed with chloroplast and other cellular components. The sea slug Alesia sucks the chloroplasts from Codium and houses them in a special gland. Here the chloroplasts photosynthesize and produce a slime the animal uses to lubricate its path.

Codium fragile had a unique introduction to the Mediterranean. According to Professor Jean Feldmann (University of Paris), this species was imported from California to the Banyuls-sur-Mer marine station for research purposes prior to World War II. Care was taken to secure these plants in the laboratory, but all for naught. Allied bombers liberated Codium and it has persisted as a noxious weed on local swimming beaches ever since.

Habitat & Distribution

Both forms of Codium are found in the low intertidal zone from Alaska to Mexico.

Close-up of Codium fragile branchlet.