Ulva lactuca
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| iUlva lactuca | ||||||||||||||
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| Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, 1753 |
Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, a Green alga in the Division Chlorophyta, is the type species of the genus Ulva; also known as Sea lettuce.
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[edit] Description
Ulva lactuca may reach 1 m in length, though usually it is much less, and up to 30 cm across with a broad, crumpledor ruffled frond that is soft, translucent and membranous. It is attached to rock via a small disc-shaped hold-fast. Green to dark green in color. This Chlorophyte is a sheet forming alga composed of two layers of cells irregularly arranged, as seen in cross section. The chloroplast is cup-shaped with 1 - 3 pyrenoids. Ulva, among other green algae is very prolific in areas were there are lots of nutrients available.
Ulva lactuca is very common on rocks and on other algae in the littroral and sublittoral on shores all around the British Isles, with a world-wide distribution. There are other species of Ulva which are similar and not always easy to differentiate.
[edit] References
[edit] Identification
Burrows, E.M. 1991. Seaweeds of the British Isles. Volume 2 Chlorophyta. Natural History Museum Publications, London.
[edit] Specialist
Hayden, H.S., Blomster, J., Maggs, C.A., Silva, P.C., Stanhope, M.J. and Waaland, J.R. 2003. Linnaeus was right all along: Ulva and Enteromorpha are not distinct genera. Eur. J. Phycol. 38: 277 - 294.
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