Cladophoropsis macromeres

Cladophoropsis macromeres W. R. Taylor

Cladophoropsis macromeres W. R. Taylor, 1928:64, pl. 4: figs. 15, 16; Mendoza-González and Mateo-Cid, 1986:419; González-González et al., 1996:281; Leliaert, 2004:116, figs. 3C,D, 5A,B, 8A–E; Pedroche et al., 2005:52; Leliaert and Coppejans, 2006:662, figs. 3, 4, 18–22.

Algae of cylindrical, loosely branched entangled filaments, forming mats up to 15 cm wide and 2–15 cm thick; usually found free floating or lying unattached on substratum. Main filaments (280–)350–510 µm in diameter; cells 2.3–18 times longer than wide, with cells walls up to 10 µm thick; upper filaments narrower, (140–)280–360(–400) µm in diameter with cells up to 60 times longer than wide, and cell walls 2–4 µm thick. Branching mostly irregular, sometimes unilateral in upper portions. Chloroplasts polygonal to rounded in parietal reticulum, usually with a single large pyrenoid. Prismatic calcium oxalate crystals present in most cells.

HABITAT. Free-floating or cast ashore on sand flats or mudflats; sometimes entangled with other algae or aquatic plants; in protected tide pools or shallow waters; intertidal.

DISTRIBUTION. Gulf of California: Guaymas.

TYPE LOCALITY. Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Monroe County, Florida.