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Trees- ShrubsSweet-Smelling Seaweed ( Dictyopteris membranacea )
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Dictyopteris membranacea has thin membranous fronds, with a prominent midrib (1; 2); it is attached to the substrate with the use of rhizoidal branches. The sweet-smelling seaweed is 100-300mm in size with fronds that reach up to 15mm wide (1). When younger, D. membranacea has a yellow colour; the colouration then gets darker with age becoming a dark brown colour (1).
There are approximately 31 species within the genus Dictyopteris (3); only the species of D. diaphana is listed under the IUCN Redlist (4).
D. membranacea is usually found on the lower shore on rocky substrates to depths of 35m; it also has a preference for shaded areas, although it is found in more illuminated areas in the South Mediterranean (1).
The sweet-smelling seaweed has annual reproduction; the fronds are well developed in the spring, and heavily reduced in the winter (1). They have a digenetic isomorphic cycle.
D. membranacea has a cosmopolitan distribution; it is found in the Mediterranean and the north-east Atlantic (1).
D. membranacea uses photosynthesis, as well as requiring various inorganic nutrients, such as carbon dioxide, phosphorus and fixed nitrogen (2).
Not listed under the IUCN Redlist (4).
Description written by Ben Harvey (2009)
(1) Cabioc’H, J., Floc’H, J. & Le Toquin, A., 1992. Guide mes algues des mers d’Europe. Paris: Delachaux et Niestle.
(2) Graham, L.E. & Wilcox, L.W., 2000. Algae. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
(3) Guiry, M.D. (2009). Dictyopteris J.V. Lamouroux, 1809. In: Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. (2009). AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=144085 on 2009-09-01
(4) IUCN, 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [Online] (2009.1) Available at: www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed 01 September 2009].
