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Culture studies on two morphological types of Caulerpa (Chlorophyta) from Perth, Western Australia, with a description of a new species
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Culture studies on two morphological types of Caulerpa (Chlorophyta) from Perth, Western Australia, with a description of a new species

T.J.B. Carruthers, D.I. Walker and J.M. Huisman
Botanica Marina, Vol.36(6), pp.589-596
1993
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Abstract

The phenotypic plasticity and performance of two growth-forms of Caulelpa racemosa (Forsskal) J. Agardh, one found in estuarine conditions, the other growing in a coastal reef environment was studied in laboratory culture. There was no change in the morphology of either growth-form when cultured through a range of salinity (10-40%0) and light (20-140 IlEm-2s-1) conditions. The estuarine growth-form performed better than the coastal one in low salinities (20%0), which suggests physiological adaptation to the estuarine environment. It was concluded that differences in morphology of both types were fixed rather than plastic. The taxonomic status of the estuarine growth-form was raised from a phenotypic variant of C. racemosa (Forsskal) J. Agardh to a new species, Caulelpa lagara sp. nov.

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