Algae I.D.

[LisaP]

Hi all,

I wonder if any of you algae experts could help I.D. this for me. I'm just curious really. I've surfed the net trying to find out what it is but haven't found a match yet.

It is relatively slow growing and is found on just one rock in my tank (which I've had for a year now). My purple tang doesn't touch it but then again he's too busy eating the all the tasty algae that I put up in the lettuce clip

The algae is a dark red colour with flat blades measuring about 1mm in diameter.

Thanks a bunch

Regards

Lisa

[Spanky]

Dictyota cervicornis

[Spanky]

Lisa, I'm sorry.
I forgot to give you the Official Welcome and "Banana Milk Shake"



Jerel, in desperate need of more coffee!

[LisaP]

Hiya Jerel,

Love the cow LOL!

Thanks for the super quick response.

I have performed a search for Dictyota cervicornis and the one and only pic I found looks nothing like the algae that I have.

http://rmocfis.upr.clu.edu/~ballan/Dictyot.cerv.html

Dictyota sp. are commonly called Antler algae, right? The picture above shows the algae branching at the tips (dichotomous branching) and mine has a central thallus with side branches (opposite branching). Plus it's red putting it in the Class Rhodophyceae.

What do you think? Have I lost the plot entirely?

Thank you for your time.

P.S. I still have my Schizostella bifurcata

Regards

Lisa

[Alice]

Welcome to The Reef Tank Lisa!

Glad to have you with us. Would you like to tell us more about your tank(s)?

Alice

[Spanky]

Lisa,

I'm looking at the top left of the picture. The one branch that sticks out by itself. Looks like it's not branching in a equal dichotomy. (Keep in mind, Jorge ran off with all the reading glasses) does it have any iridescence? Bright red, not brown?

That link doesn't look like D. crev to me either. We just call them Y-branch.

Whoo Hooo on the star! Is it growing? Obviously it's adjusted to the tank and you're doing everything right. Congratulations

We need "Jorge, Jorge,-- Jorge of the Jungle" LOL

[LisaP]

Jerel,

I took a close up pic of a couple of individual 'branches' this afternoon. Boy do I love my digital camera... point, shoot, download. The days of having to haul myself to the developers are just a distant memory now

Anyhow the colour of this algae is a deep red, with a slight hint of green. It doesn't appear to have any iridescence to it that I can see.

Yeah the star has grown some, although judging by the amount of food he's been eating he should be the size of a house by now I have been feeding him every night after lights out and I appear to have perfected the art of offering some tiny piece of food to a star with a disc measuring just a few millimeters. His favourite snack appears to be krill, once he grabs a hold of that he very rarely lets go. For one so small he has a surprisingly strong grip.

Regards

Lisa

[LisaP]

Hi there Alice,

Thank you for the very nice welcome

I have just the one reef tank (my husband always puts his foot down when I suggest setting up another one, pah men!) and it has been running for 7 years now. My very first resident, a Scarlet Hawkfish, celebrated his/her 7th birthday on the 2nd January 2002.

The tank is 60" by 30" by 20" with a small sump underneath and contains about 105 gallons after rock displacement etc. It is set up in the Berlin style with the filtration being performed by live rock with supplemental protein skimming. I do not have any substrate in my tank nor in the sump.

Lighting is provided by 2 250W 10K metal halides plus 2 30W actinics and calcium/alkalinity are maintained with a Ca reactor.

Up until the beginning of 2001 the tank contained mainly hard corals with a small scattering of softies (plus fish of course). In Jan 2001 I added my first SPS coral (I think that my tank was matured enough eh!) and since then I have become totally addicted to SPS corals. I do still like my LPS/softies of course but I can't believe how quick SPS corals grow!! I'm gonna need a larger tank reeeeaaaal soon

Here's a nice close-up pic of my Seriatopora caliendrum , such delicate polyps I think.

There are a LOAD more pics and information about my tank to be found on my web-site if you are interested

http://reefgarden.homestead.com/Home.html

Regards

Lisa

[Spanky]

Lisa,

That's a great picture! I have my reading glasses now too, and I still don't know. LOL

Looks like one for the Algae Master. (Horge)

Please teach Alice how to point, shoot, and download.
One of these days, I'll learn too.

Jerel

[clearskys]

Hi Lisa;

I went to your homepage, VERY NICE!!!!!!!

I congratulate you on your tireless attention to detail, a rare attribute found in the hobby today. I feel like I need to write some sort of review..I can only try to emulate your tenacious style...Keep up the good work!

[dark horge]

Hello

Reds are always a major pain in the neck to ID, but the pinnate branching and flattened blades suggest a Grateloupia of some sort.

Try to feel the texture of the blade. If it's satiny smooth slimy, then that further suggests it.

FWIW, some species of Grateloupia can show off many variations on the basic flat-blade template, from pinnate-terete branching to large, single sheet, so that pics accompanying ID guides are pretty useless. Size can vary like crazy too.


I hear one species is possibly threatening the US East Coast,
just like C. taxifolia var. "stupideuropeanpublicaquariumensis".

If one's Grateloupia stays on just one rock, fine.
If not... then woah, momma, look out!


horge


PS: Did I say that ID of reds is a MAJOR pain in .... oh, I did, huh?

PPS: If you can find a pic of Pterocladia caerulescens, you'll see another structural lookalike (flat blades, pinnate branching, etc.), although THAT red algae happens to run from green-black to yellow-brown.

[LisaP]

Clearskys,

Hey thanks for the nice comments, I'm really glad that you like my site

Horge,

I had a feeling that this algae would be harder to I.D than my Dictyosphaeria sp.

Uh oh, not something else on a mission to overtake the tank Actually it grows sooooo slowly (at the moment) that I feel that I should be able keep it under control. It's still quite a small patch even after a whole year's growth.

Thanks for the great info, I have searched for Grateloupia sp. and for Pterocladia caerulescens .

I could very well be Grateloupia , the blades do feel smooth to touch. This one looks close:

http://www.horta.uac.pt/species/Alga...a_filicina.htm

However, It kind of looks like this Pterocladia too (I couldn't find a pic of P. caerulescens):

http://www.horta.uac.pt/species/Alga...capillacea.htm

Heh heh, well at least it's narrowed it down to two genuses now.

Thanks Spanky/Horge

Say, do you mind having a stab at helping me I.D. some of my other algae residents?

Regards

Lisa

[Alice]

Lisa;

Very nice pics and great website. I wish I was as well organized!


Jerel; I'm working on the point, click and download thing so watch out

[cath]

Lisa!!!!

What a stunning tank!

(cath droolin' as she types)

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by cath
(cath droolin' as she types)

I knew that Veggie diet thing was going to catch up with Cath...

MORE SHRIMP!!!!