A small red seaweed growing up to 30 cm tall. It has a filamentous frond that is irregularly and dichotomously branched, with the branches narrowing towards pincer-like tips. The holdfast is a minute conical disc that extend into a dense mass of rhizoidal filaments. The plant is reddish-brown to purple in colour and has a banded appearance when viewed closely.

MarLIN link

Original publication: Roth, A.W. (1797). Catalecta botanica quibus plantae novae et minus cognitae describuntur atque illustrantur. Fasc. 1. pp. [i]-viii, [1]-244 [1-2, index, pls], pls I-VIII. Lipsiae [Leipzig]: in Bibliopolo I.G. Mülleriano.

Download PDF from Algaebase

Ceramium virgatum is a small, red, filamentous alga that grows up to 30 centimeters tall. Fronds are irregularly dichotomously branched with tips narrowing to forked points. Rather than a definite holdfast, Ceramium virgatum has a tiny conical disc from which arises a dense mat of rhizoidal filaments that anchor the plant to rock or other algal species. These plants are often found growing epiphytically in association with Fucus spp. such as Fucus vesiculosus, Zostera marina (eelgrass), and Codium fragile, lending a hairy appearance to the stipes and fronds of these species. It is very difficult to distinguish separate species of Ceramium in the field, however the genus is characterized by a deep translucent red color and the horizontally striped appearance of the filaments caused by a unique distribution of the cortex (outermost) cells along the plant axis. Both life stages of all Ceramium spp. display the same morphology, and must be distinguished from each other with microscopy. Ceramium virgatum is found in a wide variety of environments, from protected brackish-water estuaries to wave-exposed rocky shores. It is most commonly found in intertidal zones and tide pools, it is occasionally reported subtidally to depths of 10 meters. Wherever it is found, Ceramium virgatum is able to sustain high growth rates most likely due to its exceptional ability to take up and store nitrogen from the environment.

Link for Algae Handbook (Pereira, 2010).

Ceramium virgatum is used as an extract for cosmetic products.

Link for Seaweed Industry Association

Skage, M., Gabrielsen, T.M. & Rueness, J. (2005). A molecular approach to investigate the phylogenetic basis of three widely used species groups in the red algal genus Ceramium (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta). Phycologia 44: 353-360.

Wolf, M.A., Sciuto, K., Maggs, C.A., de Barros-Barreto, M.B.B., Andreoli, C. & Moro, I. (2011). Ceramium Roth (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from Venice lagoon (Adriatic Sea, Italy): Comparative study of Mediterranean and Atlantic taxa. Taxon 60(6): 1584-1595.

Wynne, M.J. (2005). A check-list of benthic marine algae of the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic: second revision. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia 129: 1-152.