Codium galeatum J.Agardh
Acta Universitatis Lundensis. Lunds Universitets Årsskrift. Afdelningen för Mathematik och Naturvete 42-43, pl. 1, fig. 1 (1887)
Conservation Code:
Not threatened
Naturalised Status: Native to Western Australia
Name Status:
Current
Scientific Description
John Huisman & Cheryl Parker,
Monday 20 June 2011
Habit and structure. Thallus medium green, firm, erect, regularly and frequently dichotomously branched, to 1 m high, with branches uniformly terete, not tapering, 4–7 mm in diameter. Utricles stout, irregularly cylindrical to clavate, (130–)200–500(–700) µm in maximum diameter (below apex), (650–)750–1300(–1500) µm long; utricle apical wall rounded to truncate, moderately to (usually) markedly thickened forming a laminate galeate cap up to 125 µm thick; hairs (or scars) occasional, one to few per utricle. Medullary filaments usually 30–80 µm in diameter, with a prominent plug adjacent to origin from utricle.
Reproduction. Gametangia elongate-ovoid to cylindrical, 55–185 µm in diameter, 275–530 µm long.
Distribution. From Champion Bay, W. Aust., around southern Australia and Tas., to Ballina, N.S.W.
Habitat. C. galeatum is a common species on rough-water coasts along southern Australia, from low tide level down to 37 m.
[After Womersley, Mar. Benthic Fl. Southern Australia I: 235 (1984)]
