Cladophora prolifera

Cladophora prolifera (Roth) Kützing

Confera prolifera Roth, 1797:182, pl. III: fig. 2.

Cladophora prolifera (Roth) Kützing, 1843:271; Kützing, 1853:24, pl. 82: fig.3; Taylor, 1945:57; Dawson, 1949:230; Dawson, 1957b:8; Dawson, 1961b:378; Chávez B., 1972:268; van den Hoek, 1963 [in part, excluding C. rugulosa]:208, pl. 51: figs. 677–682, pl. 52: fig. 686; van den Hoek, 1982:166, pl. 32: figs. 318–327; Mateo-Cid and Mendoza-González, 1991:27; Mateo-Cid and Mendoza-González, 1991:24; Mendoza-González and Mateo-Cid, 1992:24; Mateo-Cid and Mendoza-González, 1992:24; Mateo-Cid et al., 1993:51; González-González, 1993:443; Stout and Dreckmann, 1993:4; Servière-Zaragoza et al., 1993:482; Mateo-Cid and Mendoza-González, 1994b:34; Mendoza-González et al., 1994:112; González-González et al., 1996:369; Bucio-Pacheco and Dreckmann, 1998:43; Mendoza-González and Mateo-Cid, 1998:25, 27; L. Aguilar-Rosas et al., 2000:129, 133, 134; van den Hoek and Chihara, 2000 [excluding C. rugulosa]:52, fig. 22; Mateo-Cid et al., 2000a:61, 69; L. Aguilar-Rosas et al., 2002:235; Leliaert and Coppejans, 2003:56, figs. 6A–C, 7; Leliaert, 2004:32, figs. 6A–C, 7; Pedroche et al., 2005:47; Mateo-Cid et al., 2006:58.

Algae dark green, forming dense tufts of branched filaments, up to 3 cm tall; above a distinctive stipe-like region of entangled, simple to branched, rhizoids (with annular constrictions) that descend from lower portions of basal cells, and form a rhizoidal attachment mat. Branches develop on apical end of axis and branch cells. Cells of main axes, branches, and basal cells (often with annular constrictions), 150–300 µm in diameter and 7–10 times as long as wide (1050–3000 µm in length); apical cells, 95–220 µm in diameter and 2.5–8 times as long as wide (320–1760 µm in length), with rounded tip. Rhizoids simple or branched, 40–100 µm in diameter, with characteristic annular constrictions.

HABITAT. On rocks and in tide pools, generally in shady areas; low intertidal to shallow subtidal.

DISTRIBUTION. Gulf of California: El Tornillal to Bahía Concepción; Cabo Pulmo. Pacific coast: Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon’s Lagoon), Baja California Sur to Oaxaca; Costa Rica; Ecuador; Galápagos Islands; China (Hainan Island); Taiwan; Japan; Vietnam.

TYPE LOCALITY. “In mare Corsicam” (Roth, 1797). Lectotype: Miramare, Trieste, Italy (van den Hoek, 1963).