Umbrella Algae

Organisms / Protists

Acetabularia crenulata

Bahia Honda State Park, Bahia Honda Key (24.661N, 81.270W)

March 18, 2008

Photograph by Michael Martins

 

Descriptive Information

Field Marks: Umbrella like pads at the end of stalks, dull green or white.
Size: Stalks are no longer than 5 cm and the umbrella-like pads are no larger than 1 cm in diameter.
General Habitat: On rocks in sheltered water.
Range: Unknown.

Field Observations
The Umbrella Algae was seen in shallow water, about 15-20 cm deep. It looked like a miniature lily pad. Each umbrella is made of one cell. The pads were about 1 cm in diameter and the stocks were about 5 cm long. Some of the umbrella parts of the algae were whitish green and others were a dull green. The pads had ridges that radiated from the center. We counted between 40 and 60 ridges on a single pad. The umbrella part of the algae was shaped like a broken umbrella and oscillated with the wave motion. We located it in the intertidal zone during low tide. The alga was surrounded by sand, but it could possibly have been anchored to a rock below the sand. Most of the Umbrella Algae we saw occurred in small patches in the intertidal zone.

References
Kaplan, Eugene H. Peterson Field Guide to Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988.

Additional Photographs/Videos
In The Intertidal Zone

Page developed by Michael Martins and Steven Coy