Calliarthron
Calliarthron is a genus containing two species of thalloid intertidal[1] alga. Specimens can reach around 30 cm in size. The thalli take a crustose form. The organisms lack secondary pit connections. Calliarthron reproduces by means of conceptacles; it produces tetraspores, dispores and carpospores. The genus has lignin and contains secondary cell walls, traits which are normally associated with the vascular plants.[1] It is similar to the genus Bossiella.[2]
Calliarthron | |
---|---|
Calliarthron tuberculosum | |
Scientific classification | |
(unranked): | Archaeplastida |
Division: | Rhodophyta |
Class: | Florideophyceae |
Order: | Corallinales |
Family: | Corallinaceae |
Subfamily: | Corallinoideae |
Genus: | Calliarthron Manza, 1937 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Calliarthron. |
Calliarthron is calcified, but also has uncalcified joints that allow it to flex in response to the waves to which it is subjected.[1] These joints start out calcified, and decalcify as they grow older.[1] After decalcifying they grow much longer, then fatten themselves up in the same way as xylem formation, resulting in secondary walls.[1]
Species
The 2 species currently recognised are:[3]
- Calliarthron tuberculosum
- Calliarthron cheilosporioides[1]
References
- Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. (2008). "Calliarthron". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
- Martone, Pt; Estevez, Jm; Lu, F; Ruel, K; Denny, Mw; Somerville, C; Ralph, J (Jan 2009). "Discovery of Lignin in Seaweed Reveals Convergent Evolution of Cell-Wall Architecture". Current Biology. 19 (2): 169–75. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.12.031. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 19167225.
- "Calliarthron spp. (erect, geniculate corallines)". Kelp Forest Ecology.
- Paul W. Gabrielson, Kathy Ann Miller, and Patrick T. Martone (2011) Morphometric and molecular analyses confirm two distinct species of Calliarthron (Corallinales, Rhodophyta), a genus endemic to the northeast Pacific. Phycologia: May 2011, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 298-316. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2216/10-42.1