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Trees- ShrubsUdotea ( Udotea petiolata )
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Udotea petiolata is a fan-shaped alga with rounded edges (1; 2); they reach a height of 10-100mm and can be nearly as wide (1). The holdfast is typically composed of aggregated colourless siphonous branches (2); the fan is often indented or tattered at the margins, with a pattern of concentric stripes (1). The texture of U. petiolata is weak and the alga has an olive green colouration (1; 2).
There are 10 species within the genus Udotea (3).
Udotea occurs in slightly illuminated rocky areas in the infra- and circalittoral zone; it is often found under overhangs or by Posidonia oceanica beds in depths of 0-40m (1).
Mass spawning has been documented, unlike corals and gorgonians the spawning was not correlated to lunar or tidal cycling; the peak occurrence of mass spawning was between March and July (2).
U. petiolata is distributed in the Mediterranean and in the north-east Atlantic (1).
U. petiolata 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) ITIS, 2009. ITIS Standard Report Page: Udotea. [Online] Available at: http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=6933 [Accessed 1 September 2009].
(4) IUCN, 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [Online] (2009.1) Available at: www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed 01 September 2009].
