Range expansion of some non-indigenous seaweeds along the coasts of Brittany - English Channel
Author
Burel, Thomas
Author
Helias, Mathieu
Author
Duff, Michel Le
text
Botanica Marina
2023
Warsaw, Poland
2023-05-01
66
3
151
164
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/bot-2023-0002
journal article
10.1515/bot-2023-0002
1437-4323
11360276
3.2
Botryocladia wrightii
(Harvey) W.E. Schmidt, D.L. Ballantine
et
Fredericq 2017
Botryocladia wrightii
is a
Rhodymeniaceae
originating from the North-West Pacific, initially described from
Japan
by Harvey in 1860 as
Halosaccion wrightii
. It was first found outside its native distribution area in
1978 in
the Thau Lagoon as
Chrysymenia wrightii
Harvey (
Ben Maiz 1986
)
.
Botryocladia wrightii
was found in
2005 in
the North-East Atlantic (
Galicia
, North-West
Spain
) under the name
Chrysymenia wrightii
(
Bárbara et al. 2008
)
. It was discovered in the Gulf of Morbihan in 2010 (
Le Roux 2018
) and reached the coasts of
England
in 2013 (
Bunker 2014
). All specimens found in this study were collected in the lower part of the intertidal zone with a deposit of sand. This species develops a tubular hollow thallus, somewhat gelatinous, more or less cylindrical, with a color from golden orange to purplish (
Figure 5a
). The largest sampled specimens were up to
20 cm
, with main axes up to
0.6 cm
wide (
Figure 5b
). The thallus is attached to the substratum by a discoid holdfast and shows numerous branches with an irregular branching pattern. In transverse section, the center of the thallus appears hollow with a cortex consisting of small cortical cells and large subcortical cells (
Figure 5c
). Cystocarpic plants were found in Tréveneuc (
Figure 5d
). When present, cystocarps (up to 1000 µm) are numerous and protrude all over the thallus. Specimens of
B
.
wrightii
can be confused with the native
Dumontia contorta
(S. G. Gmelin) Ruprecht
, but differ in the branching pattern, the inner structure of the thallus and the arrangement of cystocarps.