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

Carruthers, T.J.B., Walker, D.I. and Huisman, J.M. (1993) Culture studies on two morphological types of Caulerpa (Chlorophyta) from Perth, Western Australia, with a description of a new species. Botanica Marina, 36 (6). pp. 589-596.

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.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publisher:	de Gruyter
Copyright:	© Verlag Walter de Gruyer & Co
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/10153

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