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Description: |
It has characteristic featherlike erect branches which may reach up to 12 cm tall. The featherlike appearance is made up of cylindrical ramuli with mucronate tips that are pinnately arranged. The green feather alga, Caulerpa sertularioides, is among approximately 35 species and varieties of Caulerpa found in the Caribbean and western Atlantic Oceans (Littler & Littler 2000). The alga obtains its name from the feather-like fronds rising from a common stolon. Each frond is upright, branched and light to dark green in color (Littler & Littler 2000, Littler et al. 2008, Taylor 1979). Branchlets are opposite, cylindrical and needle-shaped with upcurved or straight apices or tips that are bluntly pointed. Each branchlet, measuring 180-330 µm in diameter and 3-11 mm long, is connected to a central, cylindrical axis measuring 1.0-1.5 mm in diameter. These axes connect each frond to a creeping stolon, 2.0-2.5 mm in diameter and up to 2 m long. Stolons branch to slender points and rhizoids stem from the ventral or bottom surface of each stolon to hold the alga to the substrate.  Download PDF from Algaebase
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| Biogeography |
The range of C. sertularioides extends from North Carolina to Florida, Bermuda, Bahamas, Greater and Lesser Antilles (Rodríguez-Prieto et al. 1999), Gulf of Mexico, throughout the Caribbean (Littler & Littler 2000, Littler et al. 2008) and in the southern Atlantic Ocean to Brazil (Taylor 1979). The species also occurs in many locations worldwide, including: the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (Benzie et al. 1997), Papua New Guinea (Coppejans & Meinesz 1988), Philippines (Meñez & Calumpong 1982), Palau (Santoso et al. 2004), and along the northern Pacific coast of Mexico (Scrosati 2001). In addition, C. sertularioides is considered to be an invasive alga along the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, where it is spreading rapidly over coral reefs (Fernández & Cortés 2005). The green feather alga is mostly found in coastal and estuarine environments, growing in sandy areas, seagrass beds or on mangrove prop roots (Littler et al. 2008). It is commonly a shallow-water species, occurring to 10 m deep, although sparse individuals have been dredged from depths of up to 110 m (Taylor 1979). |
| Life Cycle |
Information concerning the lifespan and age of C. sertularioides is limited, and growth may vary with water temperature, light and nutrient availability, salinity and other factors. As mentioned above, stolons of the green feather alga can reach up to 2 m in length. To form algal mats, they often overlap and entwine with other stolons. Fronds originating from the stolons can grow up to 20 cm high and 2 cm wide (Littler & Littler 2000). Like most other macroalgae, C. sertularioides can reproduce sexually or asexually. Asexual reproduction occurs via fragmentation of the parent plant. These pieces of the original alga can drift through the water column before settling and starting a new population. Sexual reproduction occurs by the release of both male and female gametes. While details on the specific reproductive strategies for C. sertularioides are lacking, studies on other Caulerpa species have shown that entire reproductive events may last no longer than 36 hours. Algae become fertile, release gametes during spawning events that occur around sunrise, and die after discharging all cellular contents into the water column (Clifton 1997). |
| References |
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